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Does Judaism believe in a 'Right to Be Forgotten' by the internet?

1/8/2016

Question originally posted to Jewish Values Online, 1/07/16

What are the Jewish values surrounding the "Right to be Forgotten," developed in Argentina? Should we have to perpetually face the consequences of an action even if it is out of date or far in the past?

The question is, if I am not mistaken, based on a law that a person has the right to request that a negative report, incident, or embarrassment may be requested to be scrubbed from the internet.

A first question one might have: who decides whether an incident is either minor enough or long ago that it should no longer be publically accessible? How is that right determined? Right now, internet giant Google is the sole determiner. After a request by an aggrieved party is raised, Google makes the decision to remove information from the internet on the basis of finding something they deem “irrelevant, outdated or otherwise objectionable”or “incorrect, inadequate or misleading”.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/18/the-right-be-forgotten-google-search

The latter is a clear directive in Jewish law. Leviticus 19:16 directs us not to ‘go about a talebearer’, i.e. do not spread dishonesty. The verse continues to state that a person should also not idly stand by the blood of his or her neighbor. The Talmud states that the proximity of the two verses is intentional: one who slanders his fellow, it is as if they spilled their blood (Bava Metzia 58a). So it is clear that not only should Google remove false and defamatory information from the internet: they do a mitzvah be removing it.

However, the former; that is, removing information from the internet that is irrelevant or outdated; is a subjective standard. Should Google remove a photo of a person drunk or doing drugs in one’s youth? Does a potential employer have the right to know that you were irresponsible when you were young? Or do you have the right to force Google to hide that ‘memory’ from everyone?

Google is operating as an arbiter of fairness. The Jewish standard for this is the idea of forgiveness is Rambam Hilchot Teshuvah, the ‘laws of repentance’. In this text, Rambam lays out that a person must do several to be forgiven: ask the individual they offended for forgiveness, ask for ablution from God at Yom Kippur, and (possibly most importantly in our situation) prove they have changed their ways. If a person is still making the poor decisions, (adultery, drug abuse, hurtful speech, etc.) is Google capable of knowing? I suppose a person can still have allegations made by third parties in the near term that will continue to be relevant.

The ongoing case of Marc Gafni is instructive. Gafni has a history of sexual misconduct going back several decades at multiple Jewish institutions. What if he applied for, and was granted, the right to have older misdeeds scrubbed? What if the result was his appointment to a position in which he sexually harassed or abused another person? A grave error would have occured, because the truth would have been obscured. There's no indication that Google has clear guidelines to avoid this from happening. And if an organzation wants to hire or not hire Mr. Gafni, they have the right to make that decision based on the truth, regardless of whether it occured last week or two decades ago. The Torah teaches us 'Write what is honest those words that are true' (Eccles. 12:10).

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/26/us/marc-gafni-center-for-integral-wisdom.html?_r=0

Google, as a business, is not in a particularly good position to make these judgements about who and what deserves to be forgotten. In theory, it could become a very lucrative business: any crime or misdeed can be removed for the right price. the inherent conflict of interest for Google makes them a poor choice as the final decider of these important and difficult moral choices.

Judaism believes in forgiveness. It believes that people can change. It also believes in truth, and that discerning individuals can decide for themselves whether an embarrassing mistake from a decade ago is still relevant. I don’t think Judaism would affirm the current version of the ‘right to be forgotten’. One must be careful and moral in deciding what gets scrubbed from the internet, and Google probably isn’t the right organization to make that judgement.

2 Comments

What is Judaism's version of the afterlife?

4/27/2015

0 Comments

Question originally posted to Jewish Values Online, 2/8/14

I want to ask about the concept of resurrection. Although it is not clearly stated or described in the Torah, the afterlife and resurrection of the dead has held an important position in (some of, at some times) Jewish belief and thought. We know that some people die very young, and some very old, many in a very bad physical condition, unable to walk etc. According to Jewish thought, in what condition will resurrection take place (if it does)? Will someone be resurrected as an age 95 year old person who is unable to walk and disabled, or will it be as one in the full power of their youth, etc.? Thank you in advance for your answer.

The trouble with a 4,000 year old tradition is that we collect an awful lot of things: rules, traditions, theologies, etc.; but rarely if ever jettison any of the old. That is normally a very good thing- it leads to deep thought and wisdom and a myriad of possibilities on many issues. With the afterlife, though, it can be a bit of mess. That does allow Jews, though, to choose from a range of possibilities.

Judaism, first and foremost, is a religion for this life, and not the next one. Our religion and its practices focus the individual on observing laws and living ones life in a moral and intentional way in order that this life be happy and meaningful. Shabbat, prayer, mitzvot, Torah study, and ethical eating practices are all about the here and now, and are not focused on earning a reward that will be paid upon one’s demise.

However, we all die, and Jewish eschatology (end-of-days theology) does exist. As I mentioned in my introduction, though, it is a hodgepodge of years of accumulated traditions, which often do not agree with one another.

The first biblical view is mentioned in conjunction with Abraham, who tells his children he will ‘go down to Sheol’ (Genesis 37:35), some kind of subterranean netherworld, according to some biblical scholars. This is likely some kind of eternal purgatory, neither good nor bad, and does not include a return trip at any point.

The second biblical view, which you refer to in your question, is Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones, being reanimated at the end of days (Ezekiel 37:1-14). The righteous will return after death, and their bodies will be functional again. Jews today may or may not believe this, by and large. However, it is for this reason that Jewish burial organizations like ZAKA care very much that every part of a Jew is buried together in a funeral plot. Jewish mortuaries are well accustomed to preserving the limbs of amputees so that their parts may be interred together with the rest of their body: the belief is that when the righteous return to life at the end of days, the severed limb will be joined to its body. Whether the person is young and vital or old and less active, though, is not an answer or comment I have seen in Jewish sources- you are free to imagine as you wish. Although Jews put the effort into observing these rituals, it is also due to the Jewish view of ‘kavod haMet’; respect for the dead, and is also the reason why Jewish tradition requires burial, and not cremation. Therefore, the Jewish efforts in gathering all the parts of a deceased person for burial does not necessary imply that Jews are sure there will be a resurrection.

Two post-biblical views of afterlife exist as well. First, the Talmud, and subsequently the Hasidic tradition, discusses the notion of ‘Olam HaBa’ - the world to come. It is stated in the Talmud that there is some kind of heaven-like place for the righteous; for the wicked, there is nothing. Hassidic teachings about Olam HaBa make it a place of Torah learning, all the time. It is not a place where a corporeal body is needed. Second, the Kabbalistic tradition records the idea of ‘gilgul haNefesh’- reincarnation. Your soul is reborn after death into the body of another person.

Lastly, it is entirely possible that none of these is what happens when we die. The energy that is within us is recycled into the universe in some way we cannot understand. We are a part of everything, and God, forever after. This view fits nicely with a Reconstructionist view of God, if that’s your thing.

My advice, though, is to pour a nice glass of wine, enjoy your friends and family, and live a good life in the present. Those are things you can know, understand, and enjoy for certain.

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How do I quit my job in the most ethical way?

7/15/2014

1 Comment

Question originally posted to Jewish Values Online

Question: I dislike my job & want to quit. I'd like to do it in a time frame that works for me, but I'd also like to do it in a way that's not offensive to my employers & allows them ample time to find a replacement. What's the best way - & the Jewish way - to address a touchy situation like this?

Answer: First of all, you have to be commended for caring enough about your employer that you wish to leave on good terms and in a moral and holy way. Clearly, they are losing a great asset.

There are many laws about the mutual employment responsibilities of both employer and employee in Jewish texts. Employers must pay on time and according to agreement. They may not deduct from an employee for normal course-of-work damages and incidentals. And they must provide benefits like medical care, meals, breaks and vacation according to the customs of the city in which the workplace is. Employees are expected to complete the labors they agreed to, arrive and depart according to the customs of the workplace, and not steal from their employers. For more, see the Talmud in Bava Metzia, 76-78.

Pursuant to your question of how much notice should you give, the Mishnah in Bava Metzia 7:1 reiterates the concept in labor relations that ‘everything is according to local custom’. In America, it seems to me that most people consider two weeks notice that you are quitting acceptable and four weeks to be the most respectful, if possible.

Lastly, the way to quit in a moral and respectable way is not a topic broached in Jewish law, but the Torah gives an excellent illustrative story. In Genesis 31, Jacob, who has been cheated over and over again by his employer and father-in-law Laban in the course of 20 years of labor decides to quit. He agrees with Laban to divide their flocks of sheep, but Jacob schemes to take all of the good sheep and leave Laban the weak sheep. He kvetches to his wife that Laban “has cheated me and changed my wages ten times” (31:7), but does not convey his frustrations to Laban. Jacob takes his flocks, wives and children and leaves in the middle of the night. Laban chases him down and exclaims, “Why did you secretly flee on me, without even telling me, for I would have sent you off with joy and with song, with drum and with lyre…” (31:27).

Jacob then unloads; he tells of all the injustices of 20 years of labor for Laban in one seething diatriabe. Laban, either in anger, shock, or genuine selfishness, replies “The daughters (Jacobs two wives) are my daughters, the children are my children, the animals are my animals!” (31:43). The two make a covenant, mend their spat, and part ways for ever.

You are free to draw your own conclusions from this text. My take is this:

1) When you take your work with you, make sure your employer knows exactly what you are taking and agrees to it. Taking the secret plans to the next Toyota Prius might be immoral (and it’s probably also illegal).

2) When you leave, save your co-workers your gripes. Go out with dignity, not like Jacob.

3) Set a date to leave, work until then, and go. Don’t sneak out in the middle of the night or call in sick for your last two weeks.

4) If and when you think your employer can hear it, set a meeting to discuss why you are leaving. A good company will want to know why its quality employees do not want to stay. Conversely, a lousy company won’t care what you say, and it will only validate your reasons for leaving. If you think your employers will be unable to hear your respectful explanation, plan B would be to write a letter shortly after you have left.

5) Lastly, and this is from experience, don’t expect to be played out ‘with drum and with lyre’, even if you were employee of the year 10 years running.

Good luck and many blessing at your next employers.

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Does Judaism believe in a 'Right to Be Forgotten' by the internet?

Question originally posted to Jewish Values Online, 1/07/16

What is Judaism's version of the afterlife?

How do I quit my job in the most ethical way?

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