HANNAH TSANG
Digital rights are a broad set of rights which primarily concern copyrighted digital works, user permissions, and rights related to computers, networks and electronic devices. [1] This series of articles will focus on the access, control and use of information. To list some examples, rights in this category would include rights to online privacy, freedom of speech in the digital sphere, the right to be forgotten and many more.
WHY CERTAIN DIGITAL RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS
When talking about human rights, many instinctively think of some fundamental human rights like the right to life and the right to liberty. We correlate human rights to issues like refugee crises, genocide and fighting against terrorism. Undeniably in recent years, these have been hot topics that well deserve the heat they bear. However, with the rise of the internet and the increased trend of digitization since the turn of the century, an understanding of digital rights is becoming increasingly important.
According to the United Nations, “Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status.” [2] Digital rights are in actuality human rights in the digital sphere. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights suggests that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” [3] Even if the opinion or the expression is through the internet, it should not be lightly interfered with (subject to counterbalances). In fact, online freedom of expression is on the agenda of the UN Council of Human Rights, and regional intergovernmental bodies such as the Council of Europe. [4] It has been discussed at international conferences, as well as the annual Internet Governance Forum. [5]
Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates the right to privacy as a fundamental human right: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.” [6] Privacy, once put into the context of the digital sphere, could mean more than one’s physical possessions or households. It could include one’s Facebook or Instagram posts, one’s browser history or even one’s geographic location. Consider how Google always displays uncannily relatable advertisements. Moreover, in this digital age correspondence mostly takes place through emails and social media with devices like laptops and mobile phones. That information is part of our privacy. The right of online privacy is as pertinent to every human being as the right to not interfering with one’s home. Therefore, digital rights are merely human rights applied in the digital sphere.
WHY THEY ARE IMPORTANT
Digital rights concerning the access, control and use of information are important because they are a crucial part of human dignity and liberty.
Our personal information is disseminated on a daily basis. Think of all the permissions you have to grant when downloading an app. What about consenting to cookies when browsing your favourite website? Today, data has considerable value. Companies develop data monetization strategies and make profits from selling valuable enterprise data. [7] Some private companies are interested in data which helps them analyze customer behaviour and understand more about the market as a way of boosting their profitability rates. Governments are also interested in collecting data in order to identify threats.
Coupled with the fact that we often do not realize when we consent to organizations taking our data, we often cannot know how our information is used and by whom. Moreover, the consequences of this data falling into the wrong hands are significant. A considerate proportion of this data is of a sensitive nature or could be manipulated to cause harm. The security of this data is therefore crucial both to the public and society in general. However, with the backdrop of increasing cyber attacks, data leaks are becoming more and more common. Privacy in the digital world correlates to our personal information and online activity. With so many organizations having access to our personal information, our every move online is potentially visible to them. This is a form of surveillance and a strike to human liberty and dignity. Digital rights like the right to access information that an organization has stored on us, and the right to be forgotten, help inform individuals about the whereabouts of their data, and the freedom to control what organizations have their data.
Furthermore, our personal information may be fed into algorithms and used to analyze us using artificial intelligence technologies. With the advancement of artificial intelligence technologies, privacy is now also a matter of automated judgments and profiling. [8] Decisions on insurance premiums and loans are often determined by profiling and scoring algorithms hidden behind black boxes. Parents are wrongly identified as potential child abusers by opaque algorithms used by local authorities. [9] A UK police force has been developing an algorithm to better predict risk posed by offenders and to ensure only the most “suitable” are granted police bail. [10] But humans should not be defined by an algorithm based on data organizations collect. This is not only a matter of discrimination but also an infringement of human dignity.
FINAL WORDS
Digital rights are human rights as applicable in the digital sphere. Undeniably, digital rights like online freedom of expression, the right to online privacy and the right to be forgotten are barely correlated by the public to human rights. Nonetheless, they are human rights that need to be acknowledged, especially in this digital age where data can be manipulated and lead to terrifying consequences. With the new General Data Protection Regulations which came into force in the EU in May 2018, hopefully, the public will become more aware of their digital rights and their significance.
[1] https://www.techopedia.com/definition/24928/digital-rights
[2] http://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/human-rights/
[3] Ibid.
[4] https://dig.watch/issues/freedom-expression
[5] Ibid.
[6] http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
[7] https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insight-whats-data-worth-summary
[8] https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/2015/why-are-digital-rights-important
[9] https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/artificial-intelligence-ai-human-rights-data-protection-privacy-algorithms-gdpr-discrimination-a8563341.html
[10] http://theconversation.com/ai-profiling-the-social-and-moral-hazards-of-predictive-policing-92960
