The Israel Internet Association (ISOC-IL) was invited to provide an official response and background materials to the Committee on the Rights of the Child ahead of a recent discussion on “the Right to be Forgotten”. ISOC-IL’s VP of Research and Public Policy, Dr. Asaf Wiener, presented ISOC-IL research, insights and recommendations at the discussion, which dealt with the ability of children to remove their online activity records and personal information from digital platforms and databases.
As elaborated upon in the ISOC-IL background materials and presentation to the committee, and reinforced by Committee Chair MK Eli Dallal at the discussion, children often lack the cognitive and emotional capacity to fully understand the implications of their online activities. This reality necessitates tailored policies that empower minors to retract consent and remove data, recognizing the inherent difficulties in their ability to make informed decisions. Recognizing the right to be forgotten not only protects privacy, but also supports minors’ ability to control their lives and identities, fostering a sense of security and resilience both on- and off-line.
The practical legislative measures proposed by ISOC-IL are to enshrine this right in the Privacy Protection Law, granting minors–and those who consented in the past as minors–control over their personal information.. This would address both the difficulty of considering their consent (given as minors) to be informed consent, as well as the importance of increasing minors’ control over the dissemination of information about them, especially in light of the troubling phenomenon of online child abuse. Contrary to existing practice, ISOC-IL argued that refusals to delete data should be allowed for substantive reasons only, and be subject to judicial appeal.
At ISOC-IL we believe that it is crucial to adapt privacy laws to the modern challenges posed by data over-collection, social media, and the retention of personal information by private companies, to create a safer digital environment for minors.
- For the full document submitted by ISOC-IL to the Committee: Background Materials from ISOC-IL on Minors’ Right to Be Forgotten
- For more information about the meeting see the official Knesset press release here: Committee for Rights of the Child discusses “right to be forgotten”–the right to be erased from online databases
- For more ISOC-IL activities, research, policy and safety resources on children’s safety online visit: https://en.isoc.org.il/tag/children
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