Human Rights in an Information Age: A Philosophical Analysis

356 Pages·2001·18.781 MB·English

by  Gregory J. Walters

HUMAN RIGHTS IN AN INFORMATION AGE
A Philosophical Analysis
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Human Rights in an
Information Age
A Philosophical Analysis
GREGORY J. WALTERS
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
www.utppublishing.com
University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2001
Toronto Buffalo London
Printed in Canada
ISBN 0-8020-3583-3
Printed on acid-free paper
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data
Walters, Gregory J. (Gregory John), 1956-
Human rights in an information age : a philosophical analysis
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8020-3583-3
1. Information society. 2. Information technology - Social aspects.
3. Human rights - Moral and ethical aspects. 4. Human rights -
Philosophy. I. Title.
HM851.W34 2001 303.48'23 C2001-930510-9
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities
and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
The University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its
publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario
Arts Council.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its pub-
lishing activities of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing
Industry Development Program (BPIDP).
In Loving Memory
Clarence Joseph Walters
6 April 1925-6 November 1998
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Contents
Foreword by Alan Gewirih xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Abbreviations xvii
Introduction 3
The Information Age Revolution 4
Purpose and Methodology 10
Three Ethical Challenges of Canadian Information Highway
Policy 10
Aims and Terminological Presuppositions 14
The Conceptual Importance of Information to Human Rights 18
Philosophical Parameters and Thesis 21
Structure of the Book 23
1 The Philosophical Framework 26
The Information Age in the Context of Modernity 26
Human Rights in an Information Age 32
2 Information Highway Policy and E-Commerce Strategy 53
The Public Policy Product Cycle 53
Historical and Sociological Specification of Canadian Com-
munications Policy 55
Industry Canada and the Information Highway Advisory
Council 60
IHAC Policy Phase 1:1993-95 61
viii Contents
IHAC Policy Phase II: 1996-98 67
IHAC Policy Phase III: The Canadian Electronic Commerce
Strategy 69
Methodological and Ethical Analysis 72
3 The Informational Economy, Work, and Productive Agency 80
Productive Agency, Work, and Human Capital 81
Two Justifications of Private Property 86
Inequality and the Restriction of Property Rights 89
The Global Situation: The Informational Economy 93
The North American Situation 102
The Informational Economy and the Community of Rights 116
4 Privacy and Security Policy: The Historical Situation 117
The Global Situation 117
The Canadian Situation 125
Conclusion 147
5 Privacy and Security: An Ethical Analysis 150
Surveying Our Technological Situation 151
Legal, Social Science, and Philosophical Conceptions of
Privacy 157
Action Theory and the Ethical Justification of Privacy Rights 164
Privacy and Security Policy in the Light of the Principle of
Human Rights 165
Conclusion 183
6 Information Warfare 187
The 'Revolution in Military Affairs' 188
Information Warfare: Definitions and Conceptions 190
Global Surveillance Practices: The ECHELON Network 196
Strategic Information Warfare Rising 199
Information Warfare and International Human Rights Law 201
Information Warfare and the Principle of Generic Consistency 204
A 'Just' Information War? 213
Is 'Perpetual Peace' Possible in the Information Age? 214
Conclusion 216
7 Information Warfare and Deterrence 218
Information Warfare Policy: Clarifying the Terms of the Debate 219
Contents ix
Instrumental Rationality, Reasonableness, and Motivation 221
Strategic Information Warfare Deterrence and the Prisoner's
Dilemma 225
Rethinking Policy Alternatives for the Information Age 231
Conclusion 236
Conclusion: Towards a Global Community of Rights
in the Information Age 238
Notes 255
References 277
Index 313