The Norwegian Data Inspectorate's service 'Slettmeg.no' ('deleteme.no' in English) provides online advice to people who find unwanted and offending material about themselves on the Internet.

This new service was launched in March 2010 by Mr. Georg Apenes, the Director of the Data Inspectorate along with the Minister of Government Administration, Reform and Church Affairs, Ms. Rigmor Aasrud. Commenting on this initiative, Ms. Aasrud said: "I would like to congratulate all of us. I think many citizens are going to need this service and a lot of people are going to benefit from it. The service will be an important tool for a great number of people."

Operated by the Data Inspectorate and financed by the Ministry of Government Administration, Reform and Church Affairs, 'Slettmeg.no' is a two-year trial project that offers advice and guidance via its website and its phone, email and chat services. Guidance on how one can remove personal information from the Internet as well as an overview of relevant laws and regulations concerning Internet publication can be found on the website. Additionally, the service contributes to clarifying whether one may assume that a piece of information (picture, text, sound file) published on the Internet falls within the legal boundaries. 

'Slettmeg.no' is a low-threshold service for people who experience violation of online privacy rights on material that they have posted themselves and later want to remove, or on material posted by others. The service keeps a neutral attitude to the different enquiries, avoiding any moralising tone concerning the published material; it rather limits itself to offer advice and guidance as objectively as possible.

The 'Slettmeg.no' services are:

• Advice and guidance on how to act in order to have unwanted personal information on the Internet removed or changed.
• Information about relevant laws and regulations.
• Practical assistance in order to get in contact with web services and those responsible for offending material published on the Internet.
• Assistance in filling out complaint forms and similar appliances offered by the individual web services.
• Assistance in using the self-service removal services (e.g. from a search engine's webpage removal request tool).
• Assistance in removing false/unwanted profiles on various social networking websites.
• Advice and tips on other relevant actors/organisations who may offer other kind of assistance.

However, 'Slettmeg.no' cannot deal with and take decisions about caseworks; neither does it have as its mandate to remove or make others remove information posted on the Internet.

Further information:

• Original Press Release - Ministry of Government Administration, Reform and Church Affairs
• Slettmeg.no (in Norwegian)