Abstract
Forgetting is fundamental in all human practices, both individual and collective, and it always has represented a relevant cognitive and cultural mechanism to select and filter knowledge. The upheavals of the digital turn in contemporary society have strongly affected this aspect, by demanding a redefinition of what it means to forget and what new ethical and cultural implications derive from this. While until recently it was inconceivable to conceive of a “perfect” memory, where nothing is erased, the Internet and all digital tools have shown us that this paradigm can be altered: technological devices potentially keep track of everything and manage to store any information (even if we do not always have control over where, how and when the information is stored). Thus, today, the issue seems to be the opposite: being able to erase. Following this reasoning, various questions related to the protection and selection of data become central, as never in the past. This project investigates this new configuration of forgetting not only considering the implications connected to the digital, but also the legal, psychological and cultural ones. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the project aims to answer the following research questions: - Forgetting and records: although it seems paradoxical to combine forgetfulness with registration, in contemporary society it is urgent to reflect on how continuous recordability transform any information into a trace, into data that cannot be forgotten. - Forgetting and agency: to what extent can we talk about the controllability, manipulability or self-determination of forgetting on behalf of subjects? In the systems of continuous digital recording and archiving in which we are immersed, what possibilities and what guarantees do subjects have of being able to forget and make people forget information that they do not want to keep? - Forgetting and the law: in what sense is it possible to speak from a philosophical and juridical point of view of the right to memory and the right to forget? In recent years there has been much talk of a duty to remember, but is there also a duty to forget? In particular, the research will be conducted by three units which, albeit in synergy, will address different aspects of forgetting: - the University of Bologna focuses on the semiotic and cultural dimensions of forgetting; - the University of Milan focuses on the legal dimension of forgetting; - the University of Turin focuses on the digital dimension of forgetting.
Results achieved
By combining interdisciplinary competencies, tools and methodologies, the project’s results have concretely addressed two of the priorities for the coming years in Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). In particular, our research has helped to answer a crucial question relating to the role that digital technologies have in rganizing cultural and social dynamics, and fostering new understandings of the implication that continuous recording can have at cultural and legal levels. As for the achievements accomplished: - in terms of the definition of the problem of forgetfulness: the result has been a multidimensional awareness (thanks to the interdisciplinary nature of the groups) of the category of forgetting, which does not flatten it out either as an exclusively IT problem or as an exclusively legal one. According to our approach, broad humanistic awareness of cultural models and of the cognitive/ethical/philosophical declinations of the category of forgetfulness have been present at the IT and legal levels, just as it is essential that those who reflect philosophically on culture know how to update their theoretical reflections according to the new media scenarios and the new legal issues that have emerged; - in terms of handling the forgetting issue in a “digital recording society” such as ours, in which everything can be recorded and nothing can be potentially erased: the result has been an articulated multidisciplinary reflection on the category of protection (such as data protection but more broadly as protection and protection of the person), on the relationship between registration-archiving-accessibility and on the relationship between truth and shareability (not all that is true, for this reason must be shared, as Wikipedia often does); These results were also achieved thanks to the enrichment of the three research teams with a research fellow dedicated to the project: -Francesca Tancini, at the University of Bologna (with a 15-month fellowship) -Salvatore Vilella at the University of Eastern Piedmont (with a fellowship of 12months) -Chiara Galbersanini at the University of Milan (with a fellowship of 23 months) The research team has firmly adhered to the policies of open data and open access, according to the principle “as open as possible, as closed as necessary”, with reference to both research data and research results. In this respect, the project has disseminated its results through a wide range of activities, which can be grouped as follows: Organization of seminars and conferences • organization of the workshop “Memoria e oblio nella società digitale: diritto, possibilità o illusione?” (Bologna, Dipartimento delle Arti, Sala Rossa, 14 May 2024); • organization of the workshop “Memoria e oblio nella società digitale: diritto, possibilità o illusione?” (Bologna, Dipartimento delle Arti, Sala Rossa, 17 January 2025); • organization of the conference “Doveri di memoria, diritti e pratiche d’oblio” (Bologna, Dipartimento delle Arti, Salone Marescotti, 2–3 October 2025). All seminar and conference activities were held in person, while also allowing synchronous remote participation and ensuring the asynchronous availability of the contents. Research missions and participation in conferences • participation of Prof. Anna Maria Lorusso in the international conference of the IASS (International Association Semiotic Studies) held in Warsaw, “Signs and Reality” (September 2nd-3rd, 2024) • participation of Prof. Anna Maria Lorusso in the international conference organized by FBK – Bruno Kessler Foundation in Trento, “Il senso incantato / The Enchanted Sense” (16–19 December 2024); • participation of Prof. Orofino in the international conference “Shaping Horizons in Future Telecommunications” (Rome, 19-21 January 2026); • Lecture of Prof. Orofino at the international conference “IAIL 2025 - Imagining the AI Landscape after the AI Act” (Pisa, 9 June 2025); • participation of Prof. Orofino and Dr. Galbersanini in the XXXIX Annual Conference of the Italian Association of Constitutionalists (AIC), “La libertà di manifestazione del Pensiero” (Salerno, 15-16 November 2024); • research period spent by the Principal Investigator, Prof. Anna Maria Lorusso, at the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme in Paris (2 October – 5 November 2024). Publications • the co-editing by Prof. Anna Maria Lorusso of the volume Forme del silenzio (Milano, Mimesis,2025); • the publication of one volume containing the results of the research in open access, edited by Prof. Marco Orofino: Chi ha diritto ad essere dimenticato? I diritti all’oblio e le sfide contemporanee (Milano, Milano University Press, 2025). • the publication of individual contributions in high-level scientific journals and edited volumes, consistently favouring open access dissemination, in order to ensure the widest possible circulation, accessibility and societal impact of the research results, in accordance with open science principles. In particular, the research activities have resulted in the following publications: - Capozzi, A., Vilella, S., Moncalvo, D., Fornasiero, M., Ricci, V., Ronchiadin, S., Ruffo, G., “FlowSeries: flow analysis on financial networks”, Applied Network Science, 10, 28 (2025); - Vilella, S., Ruffo, G., “(De)-Indexing and the Right to be Forgotten”, arXiv preprint (2025); - Lai, M., Vilella, S., Cena, F., Ruffo, G., “pyBiblioNet: a Python library for a comprehensive network-based bibliometric analysis”, Scientometrics, 130, 7139– 7190 (2025); - M. Orofino, “The new balance between data circulation and data protection in the Digital Single Market”, EuroJus, 2025, special issue, pp. 44–55; - C. Galbersanini, “La tutela dei dati personali di natura culturale nello spazio digitale: criticità e sfide emergenti”, in G. De Minico, M. Orofino (eds.), Regole telecomunicazioni dati nell’Europa digitale, Jovene, Napoli, 2025, pp. 217–241; - M. Lorusso, “Il diritto all’oblio, fra eccessi di tempi e memorie”, in M. Orofino (ed.), Chi ha diritto ad essere dimenticato? I diritti all’oblio e le sfide contemporanee, Milano University Press, Milano, 2026, pp. 11–26; - M. Orofino, “Il diritto all’oblio alla prova dell’intelligenza artificiale: dal diritto allade-indicizzazione al diritto al de-addestramento?”, in M. Orofino (ed.), Chi ha diritto ad essere dimenticato? I diritti all’oblio e le sfide contemporanee, Milano University ress, Milano, 2026, pp. 27–50; - S. Nicolazzo – A. Sapienza – S. Vilella – G. Ruffo, “(De-)indicizzazione e diritto all’oblio al tempo dei Large Language Model”, in M. Orofino (ed.), Chi ha diritto ad essere dimenticato? I diritti all’oblio e le sfide contemporanee, Milano University Press, Milano, 2026, pp. 77–100; - C. Galbersanini, “L’oblio oncologico, tra tutela dell’identità personale e protezione deidati sanitari”, in M. Orofino (ed.), Chi ha diritto ad essere dimenticato? I diritti all’oblio e le sfide contemporanee, Milano University Press, Milano, 2026, pp. 137–158; - M. N. Bugetti – L. Del Corona, “L’oblio della madre biologica in caso di parto nell’anonimato”, in M. Orofino (ed.), Chi ha diritto ad essere dimenticato? I diritti all’oblio e le sfide contemporanee, Milano University Press, Milano, 2026, pp. 159–182.Dettagli del progetto
Responsabile scientifico: Anna Maria Lorusso
Strutture Unibo coinvolte:
Dipartimento delle Arti
Coordinatore:
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Università di Bologna(Italy)
Contributo totale di progetto: Euro (EUR) 195.170,00
Contributo totale Unibo: Euro (EUR) 77.910,00
Durata del progetto in mesi: 24
Data di inizio
15/10/2023
Data di fine:
28/02/2026
