In May 2014 the European Union declared that its citizens have the right to be forgotten. In other words, many of these citizens don’t want to appear in the search results.
So, how about in the U. S.? According to a recent survey on Survey Monkey, 74-percent of adults in the U. S. also want the right to be forgotten and would permanently remove their names from the search results if given a chance.
Some of the top privacy precautions users take online include using privacy mode in their browsers, deleting history, deleting cookies and avoiding storing information in the cloud. A whopping 27-percent avoid social media altogether including Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.
So, what now? Google at least has taken a step in the more anonymity direction. After 3 years, Google + says they will finally accept any name to be used and will no longer require only real names upon signup. This may help at least some of that 27-percent to join in and participate in social media.
