Digital Rights in Australia

Digital Rights in Australia (2017) ISBN-13: 978-0-646-98077-5

Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 18/23

74 Pages Posted: 22 Dec 2017 Last revised: 30 Apr 2018

See all articles by Gerard Goggin

Gerard Goggin

The University of Sydney

Ariadne Vromen

The University of Sydney

Kimberlee G. Weatherall

The University of Sydney - Faculty of Law

Fiona Martin

The University of Sydney

Adele Webb

The University of Sydney - Department of Government and International Relations

Lucy Sunman

The University of Sydney - Department of Government and International Relations

Francesco Bailo

School of Social and Political Sciences, The University of Sydney; The Data Science Institute, University of Technology Sydney

Date Written: November 27, 2017

Abstract

Australians are some of the world’s greatest users of social media and mobile broadband, and our nation is in the top ten globally for internet use. At a time when our use of these technologies is increasingly redefining aspects of our personal and professional lives, Digital Rights in Australia explores urgent questions about the nature of our rights now and into the future.

The analysis covers rights issues in four areas: privacy, profiling and analytics; government data-matching and surveillance; workplace change; and freedom of expression and speech regulation. It explores the ethical and legal challenges we face in using digital, networked technologies and the debates we are having about how to best manage their transformative impacts. Crucially this study examines the major role of private, transnational digital platforms in reshaping the way we work, study and conduct business, our interactions with government and with each other.

The program of research which generated the Digital Rights in Australia report has three aims:

* to assess the evolving citizen uses of digital platforms, and associated digital rights and responsibilities in Australia and Asia, identifying key dynamics and issues of voice, participation, marginalisation and exclusion;

* to develop a framework for establishing the rights and legitimate expectations which platform stakeholders –– particularly everyday users –– should enjoy and the responsibilities they may bear;

* to identify the best models for governance arrangements for digital platforms and for using these environments as social resources in political, social and cultural change.

This report draws on three sources of data: a national survey of the attitudes and opinions of 1600 Australians on key rights issues; focus group discussion of related rights scenarios; and analysis of legal, policy and governance issues, illustrated by case studies.

Keywords: digital rights, human rights, digital technology, law, speech rights, work rights, privacy, information policy, digital platforms, media policy, gig economy, digital governance, regulation, content regulation, social media

Suggested Citation

Goggin, Gerard and Vromen, Ariadne and Weatherall, Kimberlee Gai and Martin, Fiona and Webb, Adele and Sunman, Lucy and Bailo, Francesco, Digital Rights in Australia (November 27, 2017). Digital Rights in Australia (2017) ISBN-13: 978-0-646-98077-5 , Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 18/23, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3090774

Gerard Goggin (Contact Author)

The University of Sydney ( email )

University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006
Australia

HOME PAGE: http://sydney.edu.au/arts/media_communications/staff/gerard_goggin.shtml

Ariadne Vromen

The University of Sydney ( email )

University of Sydney
Sydney, 2006
Australia

Kimberlee Gai Weatherall

The University of Sydney - Faculty of Law ( email )

New Law Building, F10
The University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006
Australia

Fiona Martin

The University of Sydney ( email )

Business School Abercrombie building
Sydney, NSW 2006
Australia

Adele Webb

The University of Sydney - Department of Government and International Relations ( email )

NSW 2006
Australia

Lucy Sunman

The University of Sydney - Department of Government and International Relations ( email )

NSW 2006
Australia

Francesco Bailo

School of Social and Political Sciences, The University of Sydney ( email )

University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006
Australia

The Data Science Institute, University of Technology Sydney ( email )

15 Broadway, Ultimo
PO Box 123
Sydney, NSW 2007
Australia

HOME PAGE: http://www.francescobailo.net/

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