The Right to Be Forgotten: How Kazakhstan Plans to Regulate Digital Traces

MP Natalia Dementyeva raised the issue of how Kazakhstanis can exercise their right to be forgotten when their digital traces are stored for years in government databases and private services, Orda.kz reports.

Ekaterina Smyshlyaeva, developer of the Digital Code, explained that the right to be forgotten is not a new concept, but in the era of widespread digitalization, it has taken on particular importance:

While the right to be forgotten wasn't so valuable in the analog world before, it's incredibly important today, because we truly are completely open to the digital world. Deleting a digital trace entirely is an illusion. Therefore, we certainly take this principle of proportionality and technological capabilities into account.

While completely erasing information from the internet is impossible, this right allows unwanted information to be hidden from public view.

Smyshlyaeva noted that aspects of the right to be forgotten have already been partially implemented in current legislation — specifically in the law on personal data, which allows citizens to withdraw consent for the processing of their information.

This principle will be systematically incorporated into the Digital Code.

Forgetting can involve either the complete deletion of data, which is technically the most complex operation, or its anonymization — that is, the removal of information that allows for the identification of a person. It can also involve stopping the circulation of or access to the data. Stopping circulation or access is the most realistic and practical measure that can be applied.

The deputy added that the code includes certain exceptions. If the law mandates data retention — for example, archival materials or information related to criminal investigations — such data cannot be deleted.

Likewise, information serving the public interest will not be subject to removal.

Original Author: Artyom Volkov