COMMENT | When we think about our digital footprints, it can be quite scary knowing how easily our privacy and security can be compromised if we are not careful.

For some people, typically those without power and privilege, the thought that their personal history could be traced just by being online is a real fear.

What if a potential employer finds online posts that leak personal information from your past and this has potential repercussions on your employability?

What if someone finds your online data from decades ago to be used against you today, by threatening to expose compromising online content to your family or community?

Especially for youths who started using the Internet from an early age, namely “digital natives”, the right to be forgotten on the Internet would mean having the right to erase their personal data from the past.

So for a time, there was a debate on the right to be forgotten in the online world, initiated by a case against Google Inc filed by a Spanish citizen in 2010.

However, the philosophical discussion on our digital existence has now gone beyond the case.

The fight for the right to be forgotten is a privacy issue for those who are often and always seen, heard, and visible. On the contrary, women and other marginalised groups struggle for the right to be remembered...