Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 16
Quality of Information, the Right to Oblivion
and Digital Reputation
Giusella Finocchiaro and Annarita Ricci
Abstract.
The aim of this chapter is to focus on the quality of information from a
legal point of view. The road map will be as follows: the paper will begin by
clarifying the definition of quality of information from a legal point of view; it
will then move on to draw a link between the quality of information and
fundamental rights with particular reference to digital reputation; and finally it
will introduce the time dimension and the right to oblivion.
The analysis conducted here will be a scholarly reflection based both on the
European Directive and the Italian Law. It introduces an original perspective
concerning three different topics: quality of information, right to oblivion and
digital reputation.
16.1 Quality of Information
It is well-known and needs no demonstration, that due to its interactive nature the
web has become an extraordinary communication system. It is also well-known
that to some extent, the web allows for anyone to communicate information
without users having any chance to check either its author's identity, or the
trustworthiness, accuracy and completeness of the content of information found.
This also means that incorrect and false information can easily be introduced. For
instance, libellous information affecting an individual's identity
1
can indeed
Giusella Finocchiaro and Annarita Ricci
University of Bologna, Italy
{giusella.finocchiaro,annarita.ricci}@unibo.it
1
In this chapter the word “identity” means “all personal attributes as a whole”. For
example, in the Italian legal system the notion of “personal identity” has been for a long
time reduced to that of identification, however starting from the '70s several court
decisions began to adopt a totally new concept of identity as a complex of spiritual and
moral features which are distinctive of individuals, which express their character and
autonomy. Such notion of identity is known as the “identity as a projection” of one's
moral and intellectual choices. A most recent evolution of such a concept seems to be that
of the identity as the right to build oneself, to choose one's moral and spiritual personality
rather than merely projecting it on the outside. In such a sense, identity can be defined as
an expression of “moral liberty”: Zeno-Zencovich (1995), p. 1.
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