The doors of Janus: A critical analysis of the socio-technical forces eroding trust in the rule of law

The Rule of Law is neither just a principle nor solely the institutions that embody that principle, a critical aspect of the Rule of Law is its grounding in trust which often gets neglected in the surrounding discourse. When the citizens’ trust in the Rule of Law weakens, the Rule of Law becomes fragile. In this article we examine the impact of emerging technologies on the citizens’ trust in the Rule of Law. Our analysis is specifically focused on the effect of systemic disinformation which is likely to worsen with the advent of Generative AI, algorithmic misgovernance, and the digitalization of the social contract on the relationship between citizens and the Rule of Law. Through analysis of global techno-legal developments we demonstrate that new data-driven technologies are eroding the citizens’ trust in the rule of law by weakening the epistemic justifications of trust in the rule of law, belying expectations of good governance, and disrupting the temporal-spatial aspects of governance respectively. The issues raised in this article are both of contemporary relevance in view of the upcoming democratic elections across the world and also of long term significance in view of the declining trust in public institutions. To understand why the Rule of Law has ceded governance space to the rule of code we need to acknowledge the mediating role played by law and technology in social interaction. To recover this lost governance space and restore trust in the Rule of Law, we develop a framework comprising better enforcement and the reinterpretation of existing rights and the formulation of new collective interest-based rights

Reassessing values for emerging big data technologies: integrating design-based and application-based approaches

Through the exponential growth in digital devices and computational capabilities, big data technologies are putting pressure upon the boundaries of what can or cannot be considered acceptable from an ethical perspective. Much of the literature on ethical issues related to big data and big data technologies focuses on separate values such as privacy, human dignity, justice or autonomy. More holistic approaches, allowing a more comprehensive view and better balancing of values, usually focus on either a design-based approach, in which it is tried to implement values into the design of new technologies, or an application-based approach, in which it is tried to address the ways in which new technologies are used. Some integrated approaches do exist, but typically are more general in nature. This offers a broad scope of application, but may not always be tailored to the specific nature of big data related ethical issues. In this paper we distil a comprehensive set of ethical values from existing design-based and application-based ethical approaches for new technologies and further focus these values to the context of emerging big data technologies. A total of four value lists (from techno-moral values, value-sensitive design, anticipatory emerging technology ethics and biomedical ethics) were selected for this. The integrated list consists of a total of ten values: human welfare, autonomy, non-maleficence, justice, accountability, trustworthiness, privacy, dignity, solidarity and environmental welfare. Together, this set of values provides a comprehensive and in-depth overview of the values that are to be taken into account for emerging big data technologies.Horizon 2020(H2020)No 731873 (e-SIDES)Article / Letter to editorInstituut voor Metajuridic

Reassessing values for emerging big data technologies: integrating design-based and application-based approaches

Through the exponential growth in digital devices and computational capabilities, big data technologies are putting pressure upon the boundaries of what can or cannot be considered acceptable from an ethical perspective. Much of the literature on ethical issues related to big data and big data technologies focuses on separate values such as privacy, human dignity, justice or autonomy. More holistic approaches, allowing a more comprehensive view and better balancing of values, usually focus on either a design-based approach, in which it is tried to implement values into the design of new technologies, or an application-based approach, in which it is tried to address the ways in which new technologies are used. Some integrated approaches do exist, but typically are more general in nature. This offers a broad scope of application, but may not always be tailored to the specific nature of big data related ethical issues. In this paper we distil a comprehensive set of ethical values from existing design-based and application-based ethical approaches for new technologies and further focus these values to the context of emerging big data technologies. A total of four value lists (from techno-moral values, value-sensitive design, anticipatory emerging technology ethics and biomedical ethics) were selected for this. The integrated list consists of a total of ten values: human welfare, autonomy, non-maleficence, justice, accountability, trustworthiness, privacy, dignity, solidarity and environmental welfare. Together, this set of values provides a comprehensive and in-depth overview of the values that are to be taken into account for emerging big data technologies.Horizon 2020(H2020)No 731873 (e-SIDES)Article / Letter to editorInstituut voor Metajuridic

Inequality in homes with older adults in Mexico, 2015

Archivo digital del artículoEl objetivo de este artículo es analizar la desigualdad entre los hogares con adultos mayores en México en el año 2015. La fuente de información es la Encuesta Intercensal 2015 del Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI). La propuesta metodológica de esta investigación se basa en la aplicación de un Análisis de Correspondencia Múltiple que permite estudiar la relación entre las variables de los hogares con adultos mayores en México con base en tres dimensiones: individual, hogar y contexto. Los resultados indican la presencia de desigualdades permanentes entre los hogares con personas con 60 años o más, además de diferencias importantes en los bienes, la estructura familiar y las ayudas gubernamentales, lo que impacta en las condiciones de vida de los adultos mayores de México en 2015