Hi

There are some valid reasons for this new law. If I stole something when I was a crazy teenager, should it be known to everyone for evermore? Would you like the first google hit to be "Steve robbed Snickers bar"? Potential employers won't even read the detail, people make decisions just on the headline. People deserve the chance to make a new start.

Berners-Lee idea that "An employer could be prohibited from taking into account a person's juvenile crimes or minor crimes more than 10 years old" is just a pipe dream, how the heck would this be enforced?

Another actual true life incident occurred. A guy, lets call him Tim Lee, was meant to be in the newspaper for a sports award. Unfortunately, on the online version, his photo and name was put against an article about robbing a taxi driver. Tim didn't find out for a week, at which stage the article, with photo, had been republished on loads of websites. All around the world. The newspaper quickly corrected the mistake. But there was no easy way of getting at all the other sites, as they were outside Irish and EU law.

So the full first page of hits on the name Tim Lee returned a story about robbing a taxi. Even one mention of Tim Lee robbing a taxi could do immense damage.

I note that Berners-Lee agrees that incorrect data should be removed. But I think its easier to have one path to removal - you apply, then if its approved, you are removed from the search engines. It will never be totally reliable, but its a good start.