Study Looks at Ethics in Emerging Technologies

Berkman Fellow Mary Rundle and Harvard Law Clinical Student Chris Conley have just released their study regarding the "Ethical Implications of Emerging Technologies."  The survey and research were sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Sciences, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Mary Rundle and Net Dialogue, which she directs, were asked to "analyze certain UNESCO goals in light of emerging technologies that will usher in the future information society."  The emerging technologies that the study focuses on in particular are:

*The Semantic Web and Other Metadata
*Digital Identity Managment and Biometrics
*Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Sensors
*The Geospatial Web and Location-Based Services
*Mesh Networking
*Grid Computing
*New Computing Technologies

It takes these areas and holds them in comparison to a set of UNESCO's "infoethics" goals.  Mainly,

*Fostering the application of human rights and fundamental freedoms in cyberspace;
*Extending the public domain of information;
*Enabling diversity of content in information networks; and
*Promoting access to information and means of communication.

Many Berkman friends and affiliates were involved in the production of this report including John Clippinger, Urs Gasser, Lawrence Lessig, Wendy Seltzer, David Weinberger, and Jonathan Zittrain, to name a few.

Chris Conley, Co-Editor of the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology and former Clinical Student, was instrumental in the production of the project and shows a great example of the diversity of projects that the Cyberlaw Clinic affords.

The study is now available in its entirety in pdf format online.