[Privsec] Privacy and Human Rights as an Enabler to the Information Society

[Gus Hosein]

I've cut it down to six paragraphs, which in my estimation, will take about 
4 minutes to speak.

At 19:22 22/02/2005, Robert Guerra wrote:
>We need a max 3 to 5 min intervention that will be spoken on Thursday  as 
>part of the CS  internet governance input.
>
>The latest draft is below and @ the wiki . if you have any suggested 
>revisions please make then on the wiki. deadline  is Tomorrow afternoon.
>
>
>regards
>
>Robert
>
>
>http://wiki.digitaldivide.net/wiki/index.php/Drafting_Space_for_WGIG_Input
>
>
> From Digital Divide Wiki
>
>Privacy and Human Rights as an Enabler to the Information Society
>
>We would like to draw privacy and human rights to the attention of those 
>involved in the WSIS process and the Working Group on Internet Governance.
>
>Privacy is an essential human right, and is enshrined in the UN 
>Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant of Political 
>and Civil Rights. Its importance as a basis for the development of a 
>democratic society is stressed time and again by the UN Human Rights 
>Committee and by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. It has also 
>been emphasized by regional instruments such as the European Court of 
>Human Right or the OECD.
>
>In an ŒInformation Society¹, where almost all attributes of an individual 
>can be known, all interactions mapped, and all intentions assumed based on 
>records, the need for protection of privacy is crucial to retain a sense 
>of freedom.
>
>Privacy encourages co-operation and trust. Whether in support groups 
>on-line, or in consultations with doctors and counsellors, or within the 
>marketplace, such interactions are supported by privacy.
>
>Following from the WSIS declaration in Geneva in 2003 and the work of the 
>WGIG, we insist that privacy is not only protected offline, but also on 
>the internet.
>
>     * One detailed example is the next generation internet protocol, 
> IPv6. The the right-most 64 bits of the address field contain EUI-64 
> Ethernet information, which is normally not transmitted outside the local 
> network. Included in this are information on the manufacturer of the 
> network card and the user's Ethernet address. That means: Every packet 
> you send out onto the public Internet using IPv6 has your fingerprints on 
> it. And unlike your IP address under IPv4, which you can change and that 
> can be assigned dynamically, this address is embedded in your hardware 
> permanently. Therefore fully anonymous internet access will no longer be 
> possible.
>
>Other examples we just briefly want to mention:
>
>     * Access policies that include marketing and advertising regimes, or 
> policies that promote the creation of web-services that do not adequately 
> protect users' privacy will create inequalities in the protection of 
> fundamental human rights.
>     * Voice-over IP policies and standards that promote surveillance over 
> confidentiality of communications may inhibit the growth potential of 
> this technology.
>     * Initiatives on unlawful speech and measures to protect intellectual 
> property may cast wide nets through the collection of personal 
> information, which will in turn chill free expression.
>     * Requirements to disclose your identity prior to speak, whether 
> through policies on domain names or through authentication protocols, 
> will unnecessarily hamper free expression.
>     * Agreements, standards and protocols on network security that do not 
> first protect the privacy of individuals will affect all conduct within 
> the Information Society.
>     * We must consider policies on education that remind us all of the 
> importance of human rights, not merely as something that we would like, 
> but as necessities.
>
>Privacy and other human rights protect the greatest social value: human 
>dignity. We have seen far too many times the gross mis-carriages of 
>justice that were enabled through vast surveillance and curtailment of 
>other human rights. These mis-carriages are not only blights upon our 
>legal systems but they reflect negatively upon our societies and our sense 
>of humanity.
>
>Privacy protects individual autonomy and human agency. Knowing everything 
>about someone reduces that person to a set of known facts, controllable 
>and manipulatable. As long as a zone of autonomy exists around the 
>individual, the opportunities for abuse and oppression are lessened. 
>Privacy provides a core pre-condition to participation, a most basic civil 
>liberty. Privacy is thus a fundamental component to freedom.
>--
>###
>Robert Guerra <rguerra at privaterra.org>
>Privaterra - <http://www.privaterra.org>
>_______________________________________________
>Privsec mailing list
>Privsec at wsis-cs.org
>http://mailman-new.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/privsec