The Intersection of Technology and Human Rights: Privacy in the Digital Era
La Intersección de la Tecnología y los Derechos Humanos: La Privacidad en la Era Digital
Keywords:
Digital privacy, Human rights, Surveillance, Data governance, Technological justiceAbstract
This article explores the complex relationship between technological advancement and the right to privacy as a core human right in the digital era. As digital infrastructures become embedded in everyday life—from smartphones to biometric surveillance and artificial intelligence—the boundaries of privacy are increasingly contested and redefined. Through legal analysis, policy review, and comparative case studies from the European Union, India, and Sub-Saharan Africa, the research investigates how privacy is protected, violated, and negotiated across diverse sociopolitical contexts. The novelty of this work lies in its intersectional approach, examining how digital privacy concerns intersect with race, class, and gender, disproportionately affecting marginalized groups. Furthermore, the article critiques the adequacy of existing international human rights frameworks to address emerging threats posed by corporate data capitalism and state surveillance. It contributes to the growing body of work on digital human rights by proposing alternative legal and ethical models grounded in equity, transparency, and technological accountability.
Este artículo analiza la compleja relación entre el avance tecnológico y el derecho a la privacidad como un derecho humano fundamental en la era digital. A medida que las infraestructuras digitales se integran en la vida cotidiana—desde los teléfonos inteligentes hasta la vigilancia biométrica y la inteligencia artificial—los límites de la privacidad se ven cada vez más disputados y redefinidos. A través de un análisis jurídico, revisión de políticas públicas y estudios de caso comparativos en la Unión Europea, India y África Subsahariana, la investigación examina cómo se protege, se vulnera y se negocia la privacidad en distintos contextos sociopolíticos. La originalidad de este trabajo radica en su enfoque interseccional, que explora cómo las preocupaciones sobre privacidad digital se cruzan con raza, clase y género, afectando de manera desproporcionada a los grupos marginados. Además, el artículo cuestiona la suficiencia de los marcos internacionales actuales de derechos humanos frente a las amenazas emergentes del capitalismo de datos corporativo y la vigilancia estatal. Contribuye a los debates sobre derechos digitales al proponer modelos jurídicos y éticos alternativos basados en la equidad, la transparencia y la rendición de cuentas tecnológica.
References
Acquisti, A., Brandimarte, L., & Loewenstein, G. (2015). Privacy and human behavior in the age of information. Science, 347(6221), 509–514. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaa1465
Benjamin, R. (2019). Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code. Polity.
Bennett, C. J., & Raab, C. D. (2017). The governance of privacy: Policy instruments in global perspective. Routledge.
Bernal, P. (2014). Internet privacy rights. Cambridge University Press.
Bietti, E. (2020). Consent as a Free Pass: Rethinking Information Processing and Information Privacy. Washington Law Review, 95(1).
Bradford, A. (2020). The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.17951/k.2022.29.2.115-118
Broughton Micova, S. (2022). Power and data: The challenge of corporate sovereignty in the digital age. Journal of Cyber Policy, 7(2), 145–163.
Bygrave, L. A. (2014). Data privacy law: An international legal perspective. Oxford University Press.
Cannataci, J. A. (2016). Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy (A/HRC/31/64). United Nations Human Rights Council.
Cavoukian, A. (2009). Privacy by Design: The 7 foundational principles. Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario.
Christman, J. (2018). The myth of property: Toward an egalitarian theory of ownership. Oxford University Press.
Citron, D. K. (2007). Technological due process. Washington University Law Review, 85, 1249.
Cohen, J. E. (2012). Configuring the networked self: Law, code, and the play of everyday life. Yale University Press.
Council of Europe. (1950). European Convention on Human Rights.
Council of Europe. (2018). The Modernised Convention 108: Convention 108+. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.
Degli Esposti, S. (2014). When big data meets data surveillance: The case of personalized marketing. Surveillance & Society, 12(2), 209–225. https://doi.org/10.24908/ss.v12i2.5113
Diggelmann, O., & Cleis, M. N. (2014). How the right to privacy became a human right. Human Rights Law Review, 14(3), 441–458. https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngu014
Ebers, M., & Sein, K. (Eds.). (2024). Privacy, Data Protection and Data-driven Technologies. Routledge Research in the Law of Emerging Technologies. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003502791-2
ECHR. (1950). European Convention on Human Rights.
European Commission Joint Research Centre. (2023). Privacy-Enhancing Technologies: Evolution and Impact. Publications Office of the European Union.
Floridi, L. (2014). The fourth revolution: How the infosphere is reshaping human reality. Oxford University Press.
Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. Pantheon Books.
Fuchs, C. (2017). Social media: A critical introduction. SAGE.
GDPR. (2016). General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679.
Greenleaf, G. (2019). Global data privacy laws 2019: 132 laws and many bills. International Data Privacy Law, 9(1), 24–29. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4426146
Habermas, J. (1989). The structural transformation of the public sphere. MIT Press.
Hartzog, W. (2018). Privacy's Blueprint: The Battle to Control the Design of New Technologies. Harvard University Press.
Hornung, G., & Schnabel, C. (2009). Data protection in Germany II: Recent decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court. Computer Law & Security Review, 25(1), 84–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2009.02.008
Howard, P. N. (2015). Pax Technica: How the Internet of Things May Set Us Free or Lock Us Up. Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300213669
Jones, M. L. (2024). The Character of Consent: The History of Cookies and the Future of Technology Policy. Oxford University Press.
Kuner, C., Svantesson, D. J. B., Cate, F. H., Lynskey, O., & Millard, C. (2017). The right to privacy in the digital age: UNESCO's role in the UN system. International Data Privacy Law, 7(2), 77–79. https://doi.org/10.1093/idpl/ipx012
Lessig, L. (2006). Code: And other laws of cyberspace. Basic Books.
Lyon, D. (2003). Surveillance as Social Sorting: Privacy, Risk, and Digital Discrimination. Routledge.
Lyon, D. (2018). The Culture of Surveillance: Watching as a Way of Life. Polity.
Madan, R., & Gupta, S. (2023). Artificial intelligence and human rights: Navigating the privacy minefield. Computer Law & Security Review, 48, 105784.
Małagocka, K. (2024). Navigating Digital Privacy and Surveillance: Post-Covid Regulatory and Theoretical Insights. Politics and Governance, 12. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.8572
Mäntylä, M. V., Graziotin, D., & Kuutila, M. (2018). The evolution of privacy by design: A systematic literature review. Information and Software Technology, 100, 1–15.
Mayer-Schönberger, V. (2011). Delete: The virtue of forgetting in the digital age. Princeton University Press.
Nissenbaum, H. (2010). Privacy in context: Technology, policy, and the integrity of social life. Stanford University Press.
O'Neil, C. (2016). Weapons of math destruction: How big data increases inequality and threatens democracy. Crown.
Post, D. G. (1995). Anarchy, state, and the internet: An essay on law-making in cyberspace. Journal of Online Law.
Rainey, B., Wicks, E., & Ovey, C. (2017). The European Convention on Human Rights. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/he/9780198767749.003.0004
Rawls, J. (1971). A Theory of Justice. Harvard University Press.
Regan, P. M. (1995). Legislating privacy: Technology, social values, and public policy. UNC Press.
Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation).
Reidenberg, J. R. (2005). Technology and internet jurisdiction. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 153(6). https://doi.org/10.2307/4150653
Richards, N. M. (2015). Intellectual privacy: Rethinking civil liberties in the digital age. Oxford University Press.
Richards, N. M., & Hartzog, W. (2017). Taking Trust Seriously in Privacy Law. Stanford Technology Law Review, 19. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2655719
Richards, N. M., & King, J. H. (2014). Big data ethics. Wake Forest Law Review, 49, 393–432.
Solove, D. J. (2008). Understanding privacy. Harvard University Press.
Solove, D. J. (2011). Nothing to hide: The false tradeoff between privacy and security. Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10790-011-9303-z
Sunstein, C. R. (2014). Why Nudge?: The Politics of Libertarian Paternalism. Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300206920
Taylor, L., Floridi, L., & van der Sloot, B. (Eds.). (2017). Group Privacy: New Challenges of Data Technologies. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46608-8
Tene, O., & Polonetsky, J. (2013). Big data for all: Privacy and user control in the age of analytics. Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property, 11(5), 239–273.
United Nations General Assembly. (2013). The right to privacy in the digital age (A/RES/68/167). https://undocs.org/A/RES/68/167.
Vladeck, S. I. (2014). Big data before the Supreme Court: "Variables" and the future of the Fourth Amendment. Mississippi Law Journal, 83, 869–892.
Warren, S. D., & Brandeis, L. D. (1890). The right to privacy. Harvard Law Review, 4(5), 193–220. https://doi.org/10.2307/1321160
Westin, A. F. (1967). Privacy and freedom. Atheneum.
Yeung, K. (2018). Five fears about data-driven decision-making. The Modern Law Review, 81(3), 502–539.
Yilma, K. (2023). Privacy and the Role of International Law in the Digital Age. Oxford University Press.
Zuboff, S. (2019). The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. PublicAffairs. https://doi.org/10.12957/rmi.2021.55150
Zyskind, G., & Nathan, O. (2015). Decentralizing Privacy: Using Blockchain to Protect Personal Data. IEEE Security and Privacy Workshops. https://doi.org/10.1109/spw.2015.27
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Marc Ferre Ros, Aarav Malhotra, Jordan van der Westhuizen
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All writings published in this journal are the personal views of the authors and do not represent the views of this journal or the authors’ affiliated institutions. Authors retain copyrights without any restriction under the license of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
[ESP] Todos los escritos publicados en esta revista representan las opiniones personales de los autores y no reflejan las opiniones de esta revista ni de las instituciones a las que los autores están afiliados. Los autores conservan los derechos de autor sin ninguna restricción bajo la licencia Creative Commons Atribución 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0).
[CAT] Tots els escrits publicats en aquesta revista representen les opinions personals dels autors i no reflecteixen les opinions d’aquesta revista ni de les institucions amb les quals els autors estan afiliats. Els autors conserven els drets d’autor sense cap restricció sota la llicència Creative Commons Atribució 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0)
