I have been very lucky to work on this book at Georgetown University, with incredibly caring and supportive departments and colleagues. I’d like to thank my fellow faculty members in the Communication, Culture, & Technology program for their kindness and creating a truly interdisciplinary environment that has stretched and challenged me in ways that inspire and energize. I’d like to thank Carole Sargent, Director of Scholarly Publications, who has guided me through writing my first book, as well as Jen Tobin and Oriana Mastro, who have trudged through it with me week by week. I’d also like to thank Julie Cohen for the many coffees and my editor, Clara, whose enthusiasm for the project proved infectious and got this book to the finish line.
The ideas that form the basis of this book emerged over the course of my graduate work at the University of Colorado. My PhD advisors, Paul Ohm and Jill Dupre, have been nothing short of vital to the completion of this work and my career. Their commitment has included long meetings, hours of editing, and managing numerous frantic communications. For their generous guidance, warm kindness, and immense patience with me, Paul and Jill have my sincerest gratitude. No part of the PhD process was more enjoyable than the time spent with my very large committee. John Bennett fully supported every aspect of my work inside and outside ATLAS. I cannot thank him enough for being my biggest cheerleader and dependable leader. Preston Padden and Dick Green have offered their time, guidance, and experience to this research, as well as guest-lectured classes and brought real-world and international context to the debate. Diane Sieber has been an inspiration and become a close friend. I was honored to have her involved in my PhD. Harry Surden’s creativity and thoughtfulness has provided a great deal of depth to this project. Last but not least, Susan Nevelow-Mart played an important role on the committee with endless energy, support, and interest. All of these people have been inspiring teachers and nurturing friends. I will be forever grateful for their reliable support.
A number of fellowships supported my graduate work and my development as an interdisciplinary researcher. I am incredibly grateful to CableLabs and its amazing team, particularly Dick Green, Chris Lammers, Simon Krauss, and Lee Zieroth, for their belief in the work being done at ATLAS and by me. I am also grateful to those at the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet & Society who made my fellowship experience there exciting, enriching, and inspiring. My thanks also goes out to those involved in the Provosts Fellowship in University Libraries, namely, the law librarians in the Wise Law Library and their director, Susan Nevelow-Mart. Finally, I would like to thank the incredible team in computer science that coordinates the NSF eCSite project, including Dirk Gunwald, Debra Goldberg, Clayton Lewis, Jessica Feld, and Sarah Hug.
Portions of the book are adaptions of previously published work, and all of their individual acknowledgments should extend here as well. Those publications include Speaking of Forgetting: Analysis of Possible Non-EU Responses to the Right to Be Forgotten and Speech Exception, 38:8 TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY 800 (2014); The Right to Be Forgotten across the Pond, 3 JOURNAL OF INFORMATION POLICY 1 (2013) (with Jef Ausloos); Seeking Digital Redemption: The Future of Forgiveness in the Internet Age, 29 SANTA CLARA COMPUTER AND HIGH TECHNOLOGY LAW JOURNAL 99 (2012) (with Nicole Friess and Jill Van Matre); and You Are What Google Says You Are: The Right to Be Forgotten and Information Stewardship, 17 INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF INFORMATION ETHICS (July 2012). A different version of chapter 4 appeared as It’s about Time: Privacy, Information Life Cycles, and the Right to Be Forgotten, 16 STANFORD TECHNOLOGY LAW REVIEW 369 (2014). I thank the Stanford Technology Law Review for permission to reprint. I benefited from numerous opportunities to present the ideas at workshops and conferences at universities with engaged faculty. I’d like to thank those editors and attendees who refined this work and pointed me in new directions. Specifically, I’d like to thank my European coauthors Paulan Korenhof, Jef Ausloos, Ivan Szekely, Giovanni Sartor, and Ronald Leenes, who taught me much about European law and attitudes toward information rights. Most importantly, I’d like to thank the reviewers of the manuscript and wonderful copyeditor. Your feedback and criticism were monumentally important to getting the book into shape.
Finally, I would like to thank my friends and family. My parents and brothers provide unconditional love and security in life that makes it possible to take the road less traveled. My friends (Madelaine Maior, Nicole Day, Belle Marsh, Carolyn Miller, Joanne White, Leslie Dodson, Kara Behnke, and Heather Underwood) give me constant entertainment, enjoyment, laughter, camaraderie, and motivation. Lastly, I would like to thank my partner in crime and husband, David Jones, for his patience, interest, editing, and love.