The proposed EU rules are called “A comprehensive approach on personal
data protection in the European Union”, and suggest that an online “right
to be forgotten” and to privacy could be enshrined in criminal law.

The “right to be forgotten” would give users the power to tell websites to
permanently delete all personal data held about them.

This isn’t the freshest of news. On 4 November 2010, as part of a review of the EU’s data protection legal framework, the EU Commission adopted a strategic Communication on a comprehensive strategy on data protection in the European Union (COM (2010) 609). The “right to be forgotten” is one of the Communication’s proposals. It has returned to public debate at this stage as the public consultation on the proposals included in the Communication will close on 15 January 2011.