Europe: 'Human rights and IT not mutually exclusive'

The Council of Europe has formally adopted a political statement on human rights in the IT-dominated society.

The eight-page document sets out how the longstanding European Convention on Human Rights has been affected by the spread of communication technologies and the dominance of the internet. It also explains the duties incumbent on governments to spread technology usage without infringing on civil liberties.

Among the topics the declaration discusses are how the internet can be used as a medium for human trafficking and the necessity of protecting intellectual property online.

In addition the document attempts to guide European governments and businesses through how to deal with technologies that both enhance and jeopardise human rights.

"ICTs facilitate access to legal material and knowledge… [and] facilitates better public scrutiny of court proceeding," the statement says. "The global reach of ICTs, in particular the internet can create problems of jurisdiction and also raises issues on the ability to apply legal framework to instances of human rights violations."

The statement goes on to say that states should promote codes of conduct for its representatives and for the media to help overcome such problems.

The Council of Europe advocates governments restrain themselves in their desire to use technologies to track and monitor privacy and ensure businesses do likewise.

"Member states should promote frameworks for self and co-regulation by private sector actors with a view to protecting the right to respect for private life and private correspondence," the statement says.

The Council also recommends that governments promote "interoperable technical standards", freedom of ICT-assisted assembly and e-learning.

The document can be found here.