Editing Google Groups (section)

===Deja News===
[[File:Deja News logo.png|frame|right|The Deja News logo as it appeared in 1997]]
The '''Deja News Research Service''' was an archive of messages posted to [[Usenet]] discussion groups, started in March 1995<ref>{{Cite magazine |author=WIRED Staff |title=Usenet Sale: Sounds to Silence? |url=https://www.wired.com/2000/10/usenet-sale-sounds-to-silence/ |access-date=2024-09-17 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> by [[Steve Madere]] in [[Austin, Texas]]. Its [[search engine]] capabilities won the service acclaim, generated controversy, and significantly changed the perceived nature of online discussion. This archive was acquired by Google in 2001.{{citation needed paragraph|date=June 2021|reason='won the service acclaim', 'generated controversy', 'significantly changed the perceived nature of online discussion' and 'acquired by Google in 2001' all need references to reliable sources.}}

While archives of Usenet discussions had been kept for as long as the medium existed, Deja News offered a novel combination of features. It was available to the public, provided a simple World Wide Web user interface, allowed searches across all archived [[newsgroup]]s, returned immediate results, and retained messages indefinitely. The search facilities transformed Usenet from a loosely organized and ephemeral communication tool into a valued information repository. The archive's relative permanence, combined with the ability to search messages by author, raised concerns about privacy and confirmed often-repeated past admonishments that posters should be cautious in discussing themselves and others.<ref>Chuq Von Rospach. ''[http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/primer/part1/ A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community]''. Usenet introductory document posted regularly until 1999.</ref>

While Madere was initially reluctant to remove archived material, protests from users and legal pressure led to the introduction of "nuking", a method for posters to permanently remove their own messages from search results. It already supported the use of an "[[X-No-Archive]]" message header, which if present would cause an article to be omitted from the archive. This did not prevent others from quoting the material in a later message and causing it to be stored. Copyright holders were also allowed to have material removed from the archive. According to Humphrey Marr of Deja News, copyright actions most frequently came from the [[Scientology vs. the Internet|Church of Scientology]].<ref>Lawton, George (January 1997). [http://sunsite.uakom.sk/sunworldonline/swol-01-1997/swol-01-archives.html Internet archives: Who's doing it? And can you protect your privacy?]. ''SunWorld''.</ref>

The capability to "nuke" postings was kept open for many years but later removed without explanation under Google's tenure. Google also mistakenly restored previously "nuked" messages at one point, angering many users.<ref>{{Cite book|title = I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59|last = Edwards|first = Douglas|publisher = Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|year = 2011|isbn = 978-0-547-41699-1|location = U.S.|pages = [https://archive.org/details/imfeelingluckyco00edwa/page/209 209–213]|url-access = registration|url = https://archive.org/details/imfeelingluckyco00edwa/page/209}}</ref> "Nukes" that were in effect at the time when Google removed the possibility are still honored, however. Since May 2014, European users can request to have search results for their name from Google Groups, including their Usenet archive, delinked under the [[right to be forgotten]] law. As of 2015, Google Groups was one of the ten most delinked sites.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/europeprivacy/?hl=en |title=Transparency Report |access-date=August 30, 2015 }}</ref> If Google does not grant a delinking, Europeans can appeal to their local data protection agencies.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/26/google-removing-right-to-be-forgotten-links|title = Google removing 'right to be forgotten' search links in Europe|website = The Guardian|last = Arthur|first = Charles| date=June 27, 2014 }}</ref>