Computer Information Is an Object of Legal Relationship
Date: October 29, 2003Source: Computer Crime Research Center
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Information communication technologies are the main factor that affects forming of a society of 21 century. It concerns a way of people life, their education and work. Information technologies (IT) became vital incentive for the development of world economy. IT give an opportunity to solve economic and social problems efficiently and creatively. Mankind has entered a new epoch - an epoch of information society.
It is estimated, that in order to increase a production of goods twice, a fourfold increase in volume of information is needed. Yet two decades ago the volume of scientific information necessary for solving technological and social problems doubled each seven years. Since 1995 it has been doubling annually or every two years.
Under such conditions, information that maintains crucial and historic directions of human activity turns into valuable product and main commodity. Its cost approaches gradually to the cost of material values. Under influence of the latest scientific and technological knowledge, production of goods radically modifies its technological basis.
IT penetrate in mechanisms of mass social communications more profoundly: education, upbringing and training. IT influence on formation of the personality, a way of living, system of legal relationship, etc.
It is possible to assert confidently, that we are faced with historical competition of various social economic systems. A system that proceeds faster on a path of a new information civilization and culture will survive. This system will create essentially new opportunities for human self-actualization as creative individual.
Scientists empasize two basic theoretic-methodological approaches to informatization of society. Technocratic: IT are considered as a mean of labor productivity increase. IT use is limited, basically, by manufacture and management spheres. Humanitarian: IT are considered as important part of human life. It is important not only for manufacture, but also for social sphere and its management [1].
The reason for significant spread of technocratic approach lies in identification of concepts "informatization" and "computerization". Such approach to informatization lies only in creating a technical basis.
Society informatization as a whole should be interpreted as development, qualitative improvement and radical strengthening with the help of modern IT. They essentially raise creative potential of a society as a whole, person's in particular. It also affects information environment in which this person exists and evolves [2].
Nowadays, there are few things which can be made without collecting, summarizing, generating, accessing information. One of the first definitions of computer information belongs to Wiener [3]. He defined it like “contents received from outer world during our and our senses’ adaptation to it. A process of reception and use of information is our adaptation to events of environment and our ability to live in it”. In other words, computer information was understood as means that allow to remove uncertainty in learning either, this or that object.
Basing on a way of retention and transmission, it is possible to say that computer information is information transmitted, processed and kept with the use of electronic-computer facilities. Computer information can be transferred in space, kept in time, transferred to other subject or other technical device (e.g. to another computer) and it is exposed to other operations.
The author considers the most successful definition: “computer information is any information (data) which exists in electronic form, is stored in computer or other machine carrier. It can be created, modified or used with help of computer” [4].
The Law of Ukraine “About Information” has secured the information right of Ukrainian citizens. It has put in legal bases of information activity. Among the major attainments secured by the law, it is necessary to mark out definition of information (article 1) and information property rights (article 38), establishment of main principles of information relationship (article 5) and state information policy (article 6). Basic direction of this policy lies in creating general system of information security (IS) [5].
General definition of information was given by Trusov who considered, that “... information covers reflection of subjects and effects in human consciousness, events and processes in each other, without relation with consciousness" [6]. In such interpretation, information is presented as certain "transcendental object". Lantzman’s opinion is that information is all that, "distinguishes one effect from another, or characterizes various conditions of it" [7].
All this testifies that it is really hard to define a correct concept of information without any methodological mistakes. Therefore, in modern legal literature we can find identification of information with reflection. Otherwise it can be considered without its relation with user [8].
The stated allows to track roots and regularity of origin and use of "information" in jurisprudence, particularly, in criminalistics. So, Belkin's thesis says: “process of proving changes in the environment as consequences of event reflection in it, is information on event” [9]. Also we shall specify that changes in environment are, first of all, reflection. Reflection, as a feature of reflecting object, in consequence of interaction with other objects, can be unclaimed by user and cannot actually become an information. Therefore we shall proceed from thesis that features of reflecting object are a fact that exists outside and independently of person’s consciousness. The underlying fact of information in scientific literature is called "the base fact”, or latent, potential information. It is always stored in a certain carrier; it can be any material body.
Considering information as an object of protection, it is necessary to notice, that it is a result of reflection and processing of outward things variety in human consciousness. These are subject’s data that surrounds a person, natural phenomena, activity of other people, etc. Data exchanged between people and or computer with the help of electronic devices (computer) is a subject of protection.
Kaljuzhnyj, analyzing problems of legal IS maintenance in our country, emphasizes [10]: “According to the Information Law of Ukraine, information is divided into open and restricted access information. The last is divided into secret information (State secret and other classified information) and confidential information. State secret for today has an efficient legal protection. Unfortunately, we cannot state the same about confidential restricted access information". And further: “The consequences of such uncertainty are: subjects of lawmaking and enforcement do not have an adequate conception about restricted information structure; identification of confidential and classified information, bearing no State secret; “an amorphous state” of new kinds of secret information, appearing outside of information legislation (e.g., professional secret or data about security measures, persons taken under protection). All this negatively affects the quality of new by-laws. Particularly it affects problems of IS, for information cannot be properly protected without any definition of needed security degree and its reasoning”.
Not only secret information is to be protected. Any modifications of unclassified data may lead to outflow of secret data. Destruction or disappearance of cumulated data may lead to its hopeless loss. Depending on a kind of data processing system, loss or outflow of information may entail consequences of different degree of weight: from innocent jokes to huge damage of economic or political character. There are lots of examples. Crimes in the automated systems (AS) of banks and trading structures became the most crucial. According to foreign experts, losses of banks from computer crimes annually make up from 170 million to 41 billion dollars.
Value of information is important for any decision about its protection. And, though different attempts were made to formalize this process with use of information and decisions analysis theories, estimation still remains rather subjective. Estimation needs a distribution of information in categories not only according to its value, but also to its importance. The following distribution of information on a degree of importance is known:
(a) vital irreplaceable information, its presence is necessary for functioning of organization;
(b) important information which can be replaced or restored, but process of restoration is very difficult and costly;
(c) helpful information which cannot be easy restored, however it is not crucial for effective functioning of organization;
(d) irrelevant information which is not crucial for organization.
In practice, attribution of information to one of these categories is a difficult task. As far as the same information can be used by many departments, each of them can attribute it to different importance categories. Importance category and value of information, naturally, varies in time and depends on attitude of diverse groups of consumers and potential infringers.
There are definitions of people groups related to information processing: holder – an organization/person that is the owner of information;...
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