欧洲居民将第一次拥有申请“被公司忘记的权利”。根据欧盟新的隐私保护法提议，人们有权通知一个公司删除该公司在互联网上所有有关他们的个人信息。

Just how much control should people have over their online reputations?

Should they be able to demand that an unflattering photo be permanently deleted from a website like Facebook? Does everything people write online have to stay there? What about bank details, addresses - can websites hold onto this information forever?

These were the kinds of questions being asked by the European Commission as it investigated the issue of internet privacy. Its guiding principle throughout has been what it called "the right to be forgotten". It has now decided on what this mysterious sounding phrase actually means.

It means that a person does have the right to demand their personal information be permanently deleted if it is data that they themselves have put online. But they don't have the right to have things like unflattering blogs or newspaper profiles written by others deleted.

The EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said the changes will help build trust in online services.

The Commission also says that businesses should have to tell their customers within 24 hours if their online accounts have been hacked into.

Some internet companies have reacted with concern to the proposals, warning that they could become bogged down in trying to meet the new requirements and that could affect their ability to grow.