An unrealistic and undesirable alternative to the right to be forgotten

In their “Così fan tutte: A better approach than the right to be forgotten”, Martha Garcia-Murillo and Ian MacInnes (2018) present an alternative to the right to be forgotten. It mainly consists of changing social norms to a more open and transparent society and improving anti-discrimination laws. In this reply, I challenge their suggestions both empirically and normatively, arguing that they cannot achieve what they set-out; that their analysis of privacy and the right to be forgotten misses important aspects that go beyond discrimination; and that we have a shared interest in allowing individuals to live a partly opaque life. •Alternatives to the right to be forgotten should not threaten the value of privacy.•Privacy is more than discrimination or manipulation.•The goal of transparency most be tempered in the private sphere.•The goal of the right to be forgotten cannot be satified by changing social norms and improving upon anti-discrimination legislation.