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Here's how to avoid internet embarrassment

Cape Town - Personal images and content uploaded on the internet may leave many South Africans wondering how to remove unpleasant content.

Your options legally for having unflattering content removed from social networks, blogs and search engines may lie with good old-fashioned appeals to posters themselves.

As search giant Google battles for practical for ways to accommodate European regulations that permit people to request to be "forgotten", the situation in South Africa means that you would need expensive legal means to get content you don't like removed.

"The practical thing to do would be to request the person who posted the photo on Facebook to remove the post," Dario Milo, specialist on data protection at Webber Wentzel told Fin24, advising on an alternative.

This may be the simple solution for adults who would like potentially embarrassing baby pictures removed from their parents' Facebook accounts.

And drunk "selfies" on Facebook friends' walls or Twitter stream should be easy to get rid of with a discreet message.

Google case

However, if people have posted content without your consent, and they refuse to take them down, you may need to turn to the courts.

"If the image was put up without their consent and invades their privacy, they can sue the person who put the image up," said Milo.

The issue has been highlighted by the European Court of Justice ruling that Google must remove all links to Spaniard Mario Costeja González who demanded that the search giant remove links to a 1998 newspaper article about the repossession of his home.

However, demanding that information - even unflattering information - be removed may actually work against you by generating unwanted attention of what could be an embarrassing personal situation.

Though González won his case against Google, a search for his name now brings up over 400 000 results on Google, 21 700 on Bing (including images), and even an extensive Wikipedia entry.

No-one should know better how uncomfortable information can return to haunt you than former Formula One president Max Mosely. He sued Google to remove images of him with five prostitutes, but though he won, the images attained near cult status and keep appearing on the internet.

In SA, the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popi), No 4 of 2013, gives voice to the concerns of how companies should deal with personal information.

Companies' responsibilities

Popi specifically insists that the collection of information must be done directly from the "data subject" (people) though it does allow the collection of publically available information, such as content placed on social networks.

Also, companies may collect personal data as long as "collection of the information from another source would not prejudice a legitimate interest of the data subject", says the legislation.

Milo said that if content was hosted by web companies in SA, they would be obliged to remove it.

"If the website hosting the content is based in SA, once it is notified of the presence of unlawful material, it should act expeditiously remove the content."


Watch comedian John Oliver's take on the right to be forgotten:



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