Reply to post: They are allowed to watch you, but you aren't allowed to watch them.

They are allowed to watch you, but you aren't allowed to watch them.

A lot of people appear to be in support of the regulator in this instance, possibly in part due to the fact that Google are bastards, but has no one asked exactly *who* it is who is suing for their right to be forgotten? I do not support Google, but what is so special about this case?

This avenue is not available for common people: the person suing isn't Joe Bloggs on legal aid - the barrister (Hugh Tomlinson, google it) for the person referred to as "NT1" is a private barrister specialising in helping high profile people remain secret, and was recently hired to block publication of papers related to the "paradise papers" leak.

In short, he is a specialist at preventing the spread of information. Obviously this is what you need when facing Google in the high court, but isn't anyone asking why the regulator only steps in when one of the most expensive barristers in their field has a high profile case in the high court?

Who in this country has been fortunate enough to receive such a powerful personalised response like this from the Information Commissioner during the course of their court case? If one wanted to be cynical, one could say that the regulations are not there to protect the plebs, they are there to protect the elites. Almost no one has the ability to take a case like this to the high court, and in the end the precedents that are being set will be made available to the same elite groups who have the most to gain from remaining hidden; powerful people who want to remain hidden will be able to remain hidden.

The "nothing to hide" argument is presented to us as being a fact of life in the most heavily surveilled country on the planet, but again - if one wanted to be cynical, one could say that it seems that this only applies to one portion of the population. Google is an easy target, but remember Google is also one of the only ways that the common man is able to keep tabs on people who watch him who would otherwise be hidden. Massive surveillance networks allow the government and corporations (like Google, and Facebook) to keep tabs on you 24/7 - but don't be fooled into believing that just because one of these elites is battling against another of these elites that it has anything to do with you and your rights.