Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/972198
11 maltatoday SUNDAY 22 APRIL 2018 News discretion – even when applied according to set criteria – may lack legitimacy, because deletion may take place simply "to pander to private persons' disproportionate expec- tation of their rights, while creating a prec- edent for further unjustified requests." For example, somebody who wants to run for politics might want previous convic- tions, minor or not, removed from the pub- lic online system. It stands to reason that the interest of the public will be significantly greater when the data subject plays a role in public life. The Article 29 Working Party, the Euro- pean experts who discuss the application of the data protection rules of the EU, have said that "politicians, senior public officials, business-people and members of the (regu- lated) professions can usually be considered to fulfil a role in public life... A good rule of thumb is to try to decide where the public having access to the particular information – made available through a search on the data subject's name – would protect them against improper public or professional conduct." Such an example could explain the legiti- mate interest that a court judgement is left on a public database indefinitely, but surely the answer is not so simple and there is no one-size fits all solution. MITLA also mentions three other impor- tant elements: justifiability, in that people's data must no longer be required for the purpose that it was collected for; necessity, which means these 'right to be forgotten' complaints must be weighed against the public interest and transparency, and pro- portionality. Ghio says complainants cannot expect to be "absolved" from the truth of their past in all occasions, especially when such avail- ability of information is still relevant to the present and future, whether as individuals or as society at large, especially when one considers that position that certain people, including public officers have. "Without specific rules, the right to be for- gotten cannot be used as a blank cheque to re-write our (personal) history, especially when crimes, which affect the whole of soci- ety, are involved. If we start on this danger- ous route, will we continue to erase other, more heinous crimes, simply because it is not fair for one's criminal history to follow one for the rest of one's life? Where would the fairness and justice in that be for the vic- tims of that crime? Where would that leave society at large?" Ghio says Malta needs to discuss rights relating to the rehabilitation of offenders, to balance them with privacy rights and the rights of society to be informed. "Such laws have been in existence in Germany since the early 70s and the time is ripe to start consid- ering such rules also in Malta, not only due to the right to be forgotten but also in light of our right to personality and informational self-determination." Blame Google People who complain about their cases cropping up on internet searches may have a simpler avenue to get what they are after, without upsetting the function that a public registry of court decisions provides to soci- ety and the press. Only last week, a businessman won a legal action against Google to remove search re- sults about a criminal conviction in a land- mark "right to be forgotten" case. The decision taken in the London High Court could have wide-ranging repercus- sions, because the claimants demanded that Google remove search results mentioning the cases for which they were convicted. These include links to web pages published by a national newspaper and other media. Google refused their request and the men took the company to the high court. Explaining his decision, the judge's key conclusion was the second complainant's – who won the case – "crime and punish- ment information has become out of date, irrelevant and of no sufficient legitimate in- terest to users of Google search to justify its continued availability". This has to be contrasted with what the judge said of the first complainant, who had been convicted of conspiracy to account falsely in the late 1990s; the claimant who won had been convicted of conspiracy to in- tercept communications. The judge said of the first applicant that he had "not accept- ed his guilt, has misled the public and this court" and that also "remains in business, and the information serves the purpose of minimising the risk that he will continue to mislead, as he has in the past. Delist- ing would not erase the information from the record altogether, but it would make it much harder to find." This judgement begs the question as to how data controllers should assess requests being made for the deletion of public re- cords of court decisions that concern them. Firstly, is the court's data controller respon- sible for the grievance or is it Google and its search engine that is troubling the com- plainant? Secondly, is the case outdated and is the subject-matter irrelevant to the com- plainant's present circumstances? For if someone with a string of minor crimes should one day seek office in the House of Representatives, would voters' public interest not be rightly served by knowing the full extent of a candidate's criminal and legal history? The barrister representing the first com- plainant, Hugh Tomlinson QC, is also chairman of a press regulation campaign group Hacked Off. He told the court the businessman made a living from commer- cial lending, and was not a public figure. An oft-mentioned concern was that "people engaged in misdeeds when they were young and if the misdeeds were constantly brought to the attention of others then they would permanently have a negative effect." Google's barrister Antony White QC, however, argued that the "right to be for- gotten" ruling first laid down in 2014 by the EU's Court of Justice was "not a right to re- write history or ... tailor your past if that's what this claimant would like to use it for". White said the business malpractice that gave rise to the complainant's conviction was "serious and sustained". MATTHEW AGIUS MORE measures are needed to address the danger posed by match-fixing and sports betting as elements of cross-border organised crime, prominent figures in the sports and gaming field agreed yesterday. This emerged as a central theme at a conference dealing with corruption in sport, 'Stop The Fix, Fix The Threat', or- ganised by the Nationalist Party. "Times have changed and today we are talking about serious organised crime on the same level as drug, prostitution and child pornography. This is cross-border organised crime," Dominic Micallef, Chief Officer, Enforcement, at the Malta Gaming Authority said. It is not only a national problem, but there were cases involving Maltese ath- letes, masterminded by foreign individu- als. Micallef recently attended a Rome conference where the Italian police explained how the Mafia, 'Ndrangheta and Camorra had infiltrated the Italian leagues, "especially the minor ones," he said. "It's not just a player getting bought off, but an entire criminal network whose aim is making money," he said, suggest- ing that match-fixing should be given as much prominence as other crimes like human trafficking and drug trafficking. Bjorn Vassallo, FIFA Director for Euro- pean Member Associations echoed Mi- callef, giving a grim reality check. "Foot- ball reflects the value and tendencies of the society it's in." "Romantic football as we remember it is finished. It is now an economy that gen- erates billions… corruption is simply a behaviour that exists outside the bound- aries of football or sport." Corruption in sport is becoming more commonplace around the globe, he said, adding that Malta was a "speck" near what is happening elsewhere. There is also collaboration between football and organised crime and lax enforcement didn't help, he said. "The beauty of sport lies in the uncer- tainty of the result." If you accept a bribe once, you will be placed under enormous psychological, social and financial pressure and will find it very hard to get out of having to do it again, Vassallo said. €50 billion were bet on sports in the past year and the illegal betting market is ten times bigger, explained Vassallo. "More prevention and education is need- ed," he said, arguing that those involved could not "sit on their hands" in view of the "rampant and blatant" corruption in sport. He thanked both sides of Par- liament for their efforts at bringing the situation to heel. A structure offering effective protec- tion to whistleblowers is needed, says sports lawyer Robert Dingli. "Whistle- blowing is part of integrity in sport. In- formation must be given for action to be taken and a means of support is needed for these people." Sport psychologist Adele Muscat re- minded that there were two sides to this coin. "Young athletes involved in match fix- ing are also victims, there is a lot of dam- age." Irregular pay dates only served to increase the risk of match-fixing, he said. David Azzopardi, Chairperson of the Malta School Sports Federation said that money was the reason why values must be strong. "In 25 years teaching at school and football, you often find that the nursery coach doesn't share the values you have imbued in the players…It's a problem throughout society: do I stick to my val- ues or get rich quick?" If our coaches aren't going to educate athletes properly and say, "I'm happier with our team losing a game with dig- nity," our children are going to follow coaches who look at money and the short term gains. Sportsmalta CEO Chris Bonett said that organised crime networks saw sport as a soft target for increasing their prof- its. He called for the setting up of a sports integrity unit who works in the interests of all the stakeholders. Betting culture is the target of the or- ganised crime said Europol expert Pa- blo Salazar Mendias, but many countries don't have a dedicated law enforcement for sports crime. "We have to increase the intelligence picture of the crime groups and increase the level of information sharing." Malta Football Association Integrity of- ficer Franz Tabone sounded almost de- spondent. "Match fixing is very much alive; it is an intrinsic part of our culture." Clubs have been infiltrated by "dubious individuals," and corruption was the order of the day, Tabone said. "It's not only about betting, but betting is easier if the scene is already compro- mised. The problem is larger than you think." Legal changes are useless without en- forcement, he said. "Unless it's enforced, the law is just a piece of paper. You might as well include capital punishment. If we carry on like this we will see the destruc- tion of our football," he warned. Match-fixing threat on the same level as drugs and prostitution