210063 PS F, G6: Information Society and E-Government (2008W)

This seminar examines the social, cultural, political and economic impacts of computing and information technology on individuals, groups, organizations and society.

We introduce students to EU¿s initiatives for the Changing Role of the States From Public Law to Social and Technical Mechanisms of Governance salient to effective e-government, including: e-living, e-business, e-health, e-identity, e-privacy, digital personalities, biometrics, e-security, e-work, e-law, online citizen access to governmental databases, privacy self-regulation, both in terms of efficiency and in terms of organizational and social impacts of new technologies on the "traditional" world of public governance.

We discusse legal and cultural aspects of a new wave of emerging ICT infrastructure in public and private domains allowing us to capture, frame, store, process, display, aggregate and correlate the infinite stream of data produced in everyday life. What does it mean that events, situations, persons, actions, processes and substances are continuously 'represented' in the form of data that fit the computer technologies used to record them?

Some particular topics to be covered in this course deals with the growing use of biometrics for personal recognition, identification, and authentication. We examine recent electronic universal identifiers and privacy developements in the constitutional and legal context of data processed in Europe, and in the USA, as well as the applicable principles on the international levels for electronic data transfer of personal data.

Despite the growing use of biometric technology, very few laws currently exist that even mention biometrics, let alone the use of biometrics with respect to privacy. However, as the use of biometrics becomes more pervasive, especially in the wake of the September 11th attacks, we can anticipate that in the near future, a significant portion of the public will become increasingly concerned over its implications.