Europe Will Ban All Roaming Charges in Exactly Two Years

The European Union has come to an agreement with networks to abolish roaming charges by June 2017. The agreement is only a preliminary stage, and it still needs approval from other EU governments and the European Parliament before it can be signed in as law, but this process is expected to go ahead without any issues.

Once the new law is in place, phone users traveling between any of the EU’s 28 countries will pay the same amount of money for calls and data as they would at home. Prior to June 2017, EU roaming charges will be capped at 0.05 euros per minute and per megabyte from April 2016. That’s down from 0.19 and 0.20 euros at the moment.

Related:UK national roaming could eliminate reception blackspots

A fair use policy can still be adopted by networks, meaning it’ll be impossible to register and pay for a phone in a country where you don’t live, then use it at home to potentially save money. There’s also a clause that networks will be able to ‘impose minimal surcharges,’ if it can be proved the new system threatens to raise prices on domestic contracts and services.

In addition to the roaming charge alterations, the European Parliament has also looked at net neutrality, and agreed that networks must treat all Internet traffic equally. However, it’s not without exceptions. For example, networks can make agreements that ensure a minimum Internet quality for special services — meaning those that require higher bandwidth — provided it doesn’t impact normal Internet use for others.

Also, networks could restrict or block Internet traffic to protect against cyber-attacks, or manage speeds due to ‘exceptional congestion.’ The wording has caused concern among critics, due to its contradictory nature, but it’s clearly stated that networks cannot throttle or block traffic for particular services, or ‘for commercial reasons.’

The EU has been working on the creation of a “Digital Single Market” for several years, and although the abolishment of roaming charges is good news, it was expected in the past, yet is still two years away from coming into effect.

Google finds right to be forgotten 'difficult', but says it's 'learning'

• by Rich Trenholm 
   @rich_trenholm
 



Shutterstock

Google is finding the right to be forgotten "difficult" and admits, "We are learning as we go."

The "right to be forgotten" has been enshrined in law by the European Union, which means people can apply to have out-of-date information about them struck out of online search results. Anyone can ask for search engines like Google and Bing to remove from search results any online article or post referring to out-of-date or irrelevant information -- such as a false accusation or wrongful arrest -- but critics argue that ne'er-do-wells could use it to whitewash their past.

Peter Barron, Google's director of communications for Europe, described the current situation as a "learning process." Speaking to the BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Barron was confronted by the Beeb's economics editor Robert Peston who pointed out one of his stories had been removed from Google search results this week. Peston received an email from Google informing him of the removal.Adjusted search results are flagged for users, and Google is contacting anyone whose articles have been removed.

The BBC article, from 2007, criticised banker Stan O'Neal, causing Peston to speculate that it was O'Neal as the subject of the story who asked for it to be excised from Google. But O'Neal denies doing so, and it appears that the request was actually made by someone who commented on the article.

"It is completely understandable," says Barron, "that Robert assumed it was Stan O'Neal who made the complaint. So that's something we'll look at. We could perhaps say 'bear in mind it may not be the person you think it is'."

Even though it was not O'Neal who applied for the removal of the article, the fact his name is once again being bandied around highlights one of the problems with the current process. This is a perfect example of the "Streisand effect," where an attempt to suppress information inadvertently draws more attention than the original information would have done.

The phenomenon is named after the US singer Barbra Streisand, who once tried to remove aerial photographs of her house from a study of California coastal erosion, drawing thousands of people to view the pictures.

The Guardian newspaper also complained that articles had been removed, three of them referring to disgraced Scottish Premier League referee Dougie McDonald. They appear to have now been reinstated.

Barron pointed out that articles are only removed from search results returned when you specifically search for the name of the person in question. Articles mentioning them can be still be found by searching for other related terms.

Articles are also only removed from European Google sites. If you simply go to Google.com instead of Google.co.uk, for example, you'll be able to see unaltered search results.

You can now ask Google to remove links about you

• by Rich Trenholm 
   @rich_trenholm
 



Shutterstock

If there's something online you don't want people to see, you can now ask Google to pretend the offending item doesn't exist.

The search giant has created an online form through which you can ask for links to personal data or posts about you to be removed from its search results. The new form is in response to a European Commission ruling earlier this month that people must have the "right to be forgotten" online.

The EC ruled that you can ask for Google to stop linking to anything that's "inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant, or excessive in relation to the purposes for which they were processed."

The landmark privacy decision by the European Union Court of Justice arose from a number of cases brought by the Spanish data protection authority in 2011, such as one involving auction notices for a house that had been repossessed, which the former owner felt infringed his privacy. The ruling applies across the EU, even to US-based companies such as Google and Facebook.

Clear history

When you submit the links you want removed, Google says it will "assess each individual request and attempt to balance the privacy rights of the individual with the public's right to know and distribute information."

To stop wrong 'uns attempting to whitewash their past, Google pledges to consider "whether there's a public interest in the information -- for example, information about financial scams, professional malpractice, criminal convictions or public conduct of government officials."A committee of experts will make the judgements, with members including Luciano Floridi, professor of philosophy and ethics of information at the University of Oxford. In a statement provided to CNET by Google, Floridi called the move "an exciting initiative, which will probably require some hard and rather philosophical thinking."

To ask for links to be removed, you have to supply the URL and explain how the links in question relate to you. To finalise a request, you must provide your name, contact email address, and a scan of some photo ID.

The form also allows you to make a request on behalf of someone else, allowing spouses, lawyers and other associates to ask for links about someone else to be removed.

If Google approves your request and removes the links in question, they'll disappear from results in Google sites across the EU. But in a statement to CNET, Google's lawyers argue that applying the EU ruling to US publications in Google's US search results would be "absurd."

The Big G adds that the online form is an "initial effort" and will be refined over time.