The integration of digital technologies into everyday life has made them increasingly influential and impacting on our rights. For this reason, the debate on how technologies violate our digital rights is becoming increasingly important.
According to a Ofxam report, among these rights we find, but not only:
→ Right to non-discrimination: In many cases, digital technologies have codified, increased or reinforced pre-existing discriminations; their concealments or biases respond to and operate within the sexist, racist, capacitist, etc. frameworks of our societies. One example is AI biases.
→ Right to life, freedom and security: New technologies have facilitated and exacerbated, in some cases, or transformed, in others, the exercise of traditional violence. Intelligent technologies and autonomous lethal weapons have emerged, such as drones used in military, special operations or even civilian contexts, since law enforcement in many countries have used military drones for surveillance practices.
→ Right to Privacy: In this context of surveillance capitalism, companies have turned digital platforms into spaces where users renounce control over their personal information. This information is collected and monetized, turning private data into a valuable product for the corporations that exploit them in order to maximize their profits.
→ Right to freedom of expression, opinion and information. The practices of censorship by the States are frequent, the deletion of contents that document human rights violations on private social networks or other commercial platforms, or the presence of false information on the Internet, especially on social networks and corporate messaging services (WhatsApp for example).
→ Right of association and political participation: Digital technologies must guarantee this right and not the other way around. Despite this, the lack of anonymity leaves activists and defenders unprotected and exposed, who can be persecuted and oppressed more easily. This invasion of privacy not only affects the personal sphere, but has profound political implications. Companies such as META (Facebook and Instagram) use this data for campaigns that influence voting intentions and manipulate public opinion, especially during electoral processes. Through detailed analysis of user behavior, these platforms can create personalized messages that impact emotionally and cognitively, and thus direct advertising campaigns that amplify polarizing discourses and disinformation. This not only diminishes the quality of democratic debate, but also perpetuates political apathy, as citizens feel increasingly alienated from a system that seems manipulated by corporate interests.
→ Right to decent work: Several platform companies have taken advantage of regulatory gaps to attack labour rights and thus increase their profits. Examples include companies such as Uber, Amazon and Glovo. On the other hand, precarious conditions have also been reported by the moderators of social media content, who are suffering serious damage to their mental health.
In addition, it is also relevant to add:
→ Right to Health: According to the Spanish Association of Mental Health Nursing, there is a relationship between excessive internet use with psychopathological consequences. Different studies reveal how the use of the internet excessively shows psychosocial features of impulsiveness, shyness, decreased self-esteem, social isolation and lower interest in other activities. The use of screens over an excessive period of time has been linked to stress, difficulty concentrating and memorizing and insomnia.
This list is not exhaustive, but it aims to give a first idea about the great scope that digital technologies have in our rights.
