Il diritto all’oblio alla prova dell’archiviazione digitale: il caso di Internet Archive

In a world that records everything and increasingly forgets nothing, who truly holds the right to be forgotten? Between digital archives, search engines, and artificial intelligence systems, the past risks remaining permanently accessible, shaping individual biographies and redefining the boundaries between memory, identity, and personal freedom. This volume approaches the right to be forgotten not as a single, unitary right, but as a constellation of safeguards: from personal data protection to human dignity, from the right to health to identity and cultural concerns, as well as the challenges posed by the persistence of digital traces and the functioning of machine-learning systems. Adopting an interdisciplinary framework that brings together law, semiotics, and computer science, the volume investigates the multiple dimensions of oblivion in contemporary society. At its core lies the increasingly complex and problematic interplay between technology and law, whereby large-scale information-processing technologies challenge legal frameworks to reassess foundational concepts such as time, responsibility, and erasure. In this context, oblivion emerges as a normative issue requiring a careful balance between individual and collective interests. The result is a timely and incisive contribution: in the era of permanent memory, oblivion does not merely entail the deletion of the past, but rather the capacity to govern the circulation of information, safeguard personal identity, and ensure the effective realization of second chances. This volume addresses a central issue for legal scholars, data professionals, and all those seeking to understand how technology and fundamental rights are reshaping our relationship with time and memory.