Yes! California lets kids delete old 'Net posts!

After I discovered Google was Making Money off ancient Internet posts that were made either by me or someone illegally impersonating me with an anonymous remailer, I began demanding a law allowing people to delete their old messages.

I knew our few decent legislators were bogged down by other issues, and our many shitty legislators didn't give a damn anyway, but I pressed on. Now these efforts have paid off in California.

The Golden State has a new law that says anyone under the age of 18 can require Internet companies to remove their online postings - simply by requesting that they do so.

California is widely a considered a trendsetter for other states - and since Poopypants Pete Wilson left office, that's usually a good thing. Other states need to follow suit.

Hopefully they'll expand the law so it protects not just kids but adults too. We own our data. Corporations like Google do not. Internet giants don't get to hide behind 30 pages of disclaimers to make folks surrender the rights to their own data. 'Tis tragic that 'Net firms kowtow to the entertainment industry on anything that has to do with copyright (like letting Disney remove any mention of Bert because Disney owns other Muppets), but they won't let individuals exercise control over what they produced themselves.