Abstract
This Chapter analyzes Declarations, Charters and Bills that, in recent years, have tried to apply the principles concerning the protection for human rights to the technological world and to the Internet. Moving from a technological interpretation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are highlighted those aspects of human personality that are affected, and often limited, by a regulation of the Internet, especially the freedom of expression, the freedom of the press, the freedom to assembly and the freedom of access to the network. In the central portion of the Chapter are discussed typical technological issues like the fundamental right to network access and digital divide, the responsibilities and the role of Internet Service Providers in the process of information flow and the freedom of the users, the use of free software and open standards to improve citizens’ rights.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
See the study by Flear and Vakulenko concerning a human rights perspective on citizen participation in the EU’s governance of new technologies (Flear and Vakulenko 2010). The author remark that: “The human rights perspective in the ‘bioethical triangle’ thus lacks clear-cut boundaries can uncertainty which is currently being explored by the burgeoning literature linking human rights to new technologies. This linkage raises the question: can citizens use human rights to connect with and help shape new technologies?” (Flear and Vakulenko 2010: 662). The authors outlines, also, that “The proliferation of sites and spaces at national, regional and international levels aimed at fostering citizen participation in the governance of science and technology demonstrates the increasing salience of citizen participation for enhancing accountability and legitimacy. In the European Union (EU), citizen participation in that governance forms part of a more general concern about tackling the ‘democratic deficit’ through measures that are aimed at reducing the distance between governance and citizens” (Flear and Vakulenko 2010: 663). Finally, conclusions are clear: “In talking about a human rights perspective, we take a non-doctrinal approach, paying close attention to critical theory and in particular Foucault-influenced ways of thinking about human rights, citizen participation and governance. We understand human rights to mean not just the body of law, but also the practices and projects, the ‘movements or groupings of lawyers, non-governmental organizations, and others who seek to secure and defend a particular right, group of rights, or human rights in general” (Flear and Vakulenko 2010: 665).
- 2.
The text of Article 1 of the UDHR is: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”.
- 3.
The text of Article 2 of the UDHR is: “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty”.
- 4.
The text of Article 3 of the UDHR is: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”.
- 5.
The text of Article 5 of the UDHR is: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.
- 6.
The text of Article 9 of the UDHR is: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile”.
- 7.
The text of Article 12 of the UDHR is: “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”.
- 8.
The text of Article 29 of the UDHR is: “(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible. (2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society. (3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations”.
- 9.
The text of Article 8 of the UDHR is: “Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law”.
- 10.
The text of Article 11 of the UDHR is: “(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence. (2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed”.
- 11.
The text of Article 10 of the UDHR is: “Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him”.
- 12.
The text of Article 13 of the UDHR is: “(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country”.
- 13.
The text of Article 14 of the UDHR is: “(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. (2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations”.
- 14.
The text of Article 18 of the UDHR is: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance”.
- 15.
The text of Article 19 of the UDHR is: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.
- 16.
The text of Article 20 of the UDHR is: “(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. (2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association”.
- 17.
The text of Article 21 of the UDHR is: “(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. (2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country. (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures”.
- 18.
The text of Article 26 of the UDHR is: “(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace. (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children”.
- 19.
The text of Article 27 of UDHR is “(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits. (2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author”.
- 20.
See the text at the address http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/geneva/official/dop.html. Accessed 13 November 2011.
- 21.
See Sect. 1.4.
- 22.
See the Sartor and Viola de Azevedo Cunha study regarding the Italian Google case and the conviction of three Google executives for violating the Italian data protection law (Sartor and Viola de Azevedo Cunha 2010).
- 23.
In 2012 Goodin, moving from a Symantec study, reported (Goodin 2012) about an espionage software, in Iran, that was recently found targeting Iranian computers and that contains advanced Bluetooth capabilities, taking malware to new heights by allowing attackers to physically stalk their victims. The Author remarks: “The Flame malware, reported earlier this week to have infiltrated systems in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries, is so comprehensive that security experts have said it may take years for them to fully document its inner workings. In a blog post published Thursday, Symantec researchers dangled an intriguing morsel of information concerning one advanced feature when picking apart a module that the binary code referred to as BeetleJuice. The component scans for all Bluetooth devices in range and collects the status and unique ID of each one found, presumably so that it can be uploaded later to servers under the control of attackers […] It also embeds an encoded fingerprint into each infected device with Bluetooth capabilities. The BeetleJuice module gives the attackers the ability to track not only the physical location of the infected device, but the coordinates of smartphones and other Bluetooth devices that have been in range of the infected device. This will be particularly effective if the compromised computer is a laptop because the victim is more likely to carry it around […] Over time, as the victim meets associates and friends, the attackers will catalog the various devices encountered, most likely mobile phones. This way the attackers can build a map of interactions with various people—and identify the victim’s social and professional circles. By measuring the strength of radio signals broadcast by devices indexed by Flame, attackers in airports, city streets, and other locations might be able to measure the comings and goings of a host of people […] BeetleJuice could be used to upload contacts, text messages, photos, and other data stored on Bluetooth devices, or to bypass firewalls and other security mechanisms when exfiltrating sensitive information” (Goodin 2012).
- 24.
The idea of a “bill of rights” recalls the English Bill of Rights of 1689 (a document declaring, inter alia, the rights of citizens and the Parliament against the Crown, especially the rights of petition, of an independent judiciary system, of a control of the taxation system, of free elections of Parliament members, of freedom of speech and freedom from cruelty in punishments and trials and from punishments without trial) and the collective name given to the first ten Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, Amendments that were drafted and came in effect between 1789 and 1791 (protecting, inter alia, rights of liberty and property, freedoms of religion, speech, a free press, free assembly, and free association).
- 25.
See Rodotà 20 November 2007, Una Carta dei diritti del web, Repubblica, http://www.repubblica.it/2007/11/sezioni/scienza_e_tecnologia/rodota-web/rodota-web/rodota-web.html. Accessed 14 November 2011.
- 26.
See http://www.buzzmachine.com/. Accessed 14 November 2011.
- 27.
See http://www.buzzmachine.com/2010/03/27/a-bill-of-rights-in-cyberspace/. Accessed 14 November 2011.
- 28.
See Hillary Rodham Clinton’s remarks on Internet freedom at the address http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/01/135519.htm. Accessed 14 November 2011.
References
Bobbio, Norberto. 1988. Presente e avvenire dei diritti dell’uomo. http://www.giuffre.it/age_files/dir_tutti/strenne/1988/Presente%20e%20avvenire%20dei%20diritti%20dell’uomo%20-%20Norberto%20Bobbio.pdf. Accessed 1 Nov 2011.
EFF. 2010. A bill of privacy rights for social network users. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/05/bill-privacy-rights-social-network-users. Accessed 14 Nov 2011.
Flear, Mark L., and Anastasia Vakulenko. 2010. A human rights perspective on citizen participation in the EU’s governance of new technologies. Human Rights Law Review 10(4): 661–688.
Forsythe, David P. 1985. The United Nations and human rights, 1945–1985. Political Science Quarterly 100(2): 249–269.
Goodin, D. 2012. Spy software’s Bluetooth capability allowed stalking of Iranian victims. http://arstechnica.com/security/2012/06/spy-softwares-bluetooth-capabilty-allowed-stalk-of-iranian-victims/. Accessed 10 June 2012.
Jarvis, Jeff. 2011. A bill of rights in Cyberspace. http://www.buzzmachine.com/2010/03/27/a-bill-of-rights-in-cyberspace/
Horner, Lisa. 2011. A human rights approach to the mobile internet. http://www.apc.org/en/system/files/LisaHorner_MobileInternet-ONLINE.pdf. Accessed 12 Nov 2011.
Kulesza, Joanna. 2008. Freedom of information in the global information society – the question of the Internet Bill of Rights. University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn Law Review 1: 81–95.
La Rue, Frank, and Olof Ehrenkrona. 2010. Chairmen’s conclusion of expert meeting on human rights and the Internet. http://www.sweden.gov.se/content/1/c6/13/93/96/829645b7.pdf. Accessed 23 Oct 2011.
Rodotà, Stefano. 2007. Una Carta dei diritti del web, Repubblica, http://www.repubblica.it/2007/11/sezioni/scienza_e_tecnologia/rodota-web/rodota-web/rodota-web.html. Accessed 14 Nov 2011.
Sartor, Giovanni. 2010. Human rights and the future of the information society. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1707724. Accessed 25 Oct 2011.
Sartor, Giovanni, and Mario Viola de Azevedo Cunha. 2010. The Italian Google-Case: Privacy, freedom of speech and responsibility of provider for user-generated contents. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1604411
Saul, Ben. 2002. Election violence in Sri Lanka: Implementing the right to a free and fair election. Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and Law 1: 1–39.
Zuckerman, Ethan, Hal Roberts, Jillian York, Robert Faris, and John Palfrey. 2010. Circumvention tool usage report. http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/sites/cyber.law.harvard.edu/files/2010_Circumvention_tool_usage_report.pdf. Accessed 24 Nov 2011.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ziccardi, G. (2013). Digital Resistance, Digital Liberties and Human Rights. In: Resistance, Liberation Technology and Human Rights in the Digital Age. Law, Governance and Technology Series, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5276-4_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5276-4_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-5275-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-5276-4
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)