ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I consider the human rights implications of crime control in the digital age-that is, crime that involves information systems as instruments or as targets of illegality. ›e term digital simply refers to the fact that computerized systems operate by reducing information to streams of 1s and 0s. ›us, almost every type of information is able to be transmitted across telecommunications networks connected either by wires or by means of radio waves. Advances in information and communications technologies (ICT) not only have created a range of new crime problems but also have facilitated the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution, adjudication, and punishment of crime. Examples include the use of encryption to ensure that data are held securely, neural networks to detect nancial crime, biometric systems to identify suspects, hard drive imaging to secure
Introduction 393 What Are Human Rights? 394 What Rights Are at Risk From Crime Control in the Digital Age? 395 Examples of Potential Human Rights Infringements From Crime Control in the Digital Age 396
Privacy 398 Search, Seizure, and Criminal Trials 399 Discrimination 401 Freedom of ›ought and Expression 402 Cruel and Unusual Punishment 404
How Can We Prevent Human Rights Infringement in the Digital Age? 406 References 407
data from alteration or destruction, sharing of data held in o¥cial databases to identify suspects and risks, electronic courtrooms to present evidence clearly, and electronic monitoring of oŠenders to enhance surveillance during periods of home detention.
