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About Human Rights and Technology

Technology and Human Rights
A woman wearing glasses looks at digital data visualizations and graphs projected in front of her, with city lights blurred in the background, creating a high-tech, futuristic atmosphere.

Human Rights-Centred Design and Deployment

Too often the technology industry adopts a 'move fast and break things' ethos, pursuing innovation with reckless abandon. Human rights are often overlooked in this race when designing and deploying new and emerging technologies. 

The Australian Human Rights Commissioner, Lorraine Finlay, seeks to ensure human rights-centred design and deployment of new and emerging technologies. 

Key Priorities 

The Australian Human Rights Commission, through the work of Commissioner Finlay, is interested in several key technologies:

  • Neurotechnology
  • Artificial intelligence 
  • Extended reality and metaverse technologies
  • Facial recognition technology. 

These technologies pose an increased risk to fundamental human rights - if they are not developed with appropriate guardrails during design and deployment. 

Human Rights Impacts

Although numerous human rights may be impacted in novel ways, new and emerging technologies pose an increased risk to (amongst others) the:

  • Right to privacy
  • Freedom from discrimination 
  • Freedom of expression 
  • Freedom of thought.

Technologies are changing how we live our lives, and what it means to be human. We must ensure that human rights are always protected when adopting new and emerging technologies.