Informational Rights and Informational Wrongs: A Tapestry for Our Times

The purpose of this chapter is twofold: first, to introduce the general topic of the collection—broadly speaking, the governance of an array of dynamic informational interests that characterize modern information societies; and, secondly, to introduce the particular topics addressed by the contributors. The chapter starts by sketching three key strands in our governance thinking, namely: reliance on traditional legal principles; resort to bespoke (rule-based) regulatory interventions; and the use of technical measures and technologies to achieve specified regulatory objectives. Against this governance backcloth, the landscape of informational interests is surveyed. While some informational interests are articulated as ‘rights’, others are presented as ‘wrongs’, and in some cases we find a cluster of informational rights and wrongs inviting (and reflecting) governance. This sketch of governance together with the survey of informational rights and wrongs is followed by short summaries of the individual contributions to the collection, each of which offers a focused discussion on a particular aspect of the governance challenges and opportunities presented by modern information technologies and their applications. Overall, the collection invites reflection on two fundamental questions: one question is whether the profile of our information societies matches our expectations and aspirations; and, the other question is whether and how, if the profile falls short, we can rely on good governance to put things right.