People are discovering, with the entrenchment of digital media for well over a decade, that their name may pop up on an internet search in a less than favourable context.
Every so often, I get a request from a member of the public to destroy an item of online public record, something the Times-Age reported on. It could be years old.
Naturally, when there is an error of fact, and people advise us of it, corrections are made. A newspaper
is obligated to pursue and negotiate a remedy when something is wrong.
But people are discovering, with the entrenchment of digital media for well over a decade, that their name may pop up on an internet search in a less than favourable context.
Before the internet, a person's "record" of past events was something that existed in the memory of the community and in newspaper files. If a researcher wanted to be thorough, public libraries, and newspaper libraries could provide links to a person's past.
Now, Google can provide it. Five or so years ago it was amusing to compare notes and claim bragging rights, on how many hits you had on the internet if you typed in a search of your name.
