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Glossary

Right to be forgotten

A European right to have certain personal information delisted from search results. It does not exist in the US.

In more detail

Established in EU law, the right to erasure lets individuals request delisting of information that is inadequate, irrelevant or excessive. The United States has no equivalent general right, and the First Amendment makes one unlikely.

Why it matters to you

A lot of online advice assumes this right exists in America. It does not, and building a plan around it wastes time. What Americans have instead is state deletion rights aimed at commercial data holders plus narrow federal rights.

Related terms
  • CCPA / CPRA

    California's consumer privacy law, granting rights to know, delete, correct and opt out.

  • California Delete Act

    The California law that created a single deletion request reaching every registered data broker.

  • Google Results about you

    Google's tool for requesting removal of search results that expose your contact details.

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