[WSIS CS-Plenary] Draft Statement for Sub-Committee B- Inclusion Issues

[Sylvia Caras]

At 08:41 PM 9/20/05, Elizabeth Carll, PhD wrote:
>It is essential that if we are attempting to hold government and businesses
>accountable for providing what they promise, it needs to be specific and
>written in such a way as not to create giant loopholes to circumvent the
>intent of outcome documents, declarations and other written commitments.

>It is also my understanding, why we have experts (hopefully) provide input 
>in various thematic and specialty areas.  I would not assume I know enough 
>about intellectual property and legal aspects of privacy laws, to insist 
>on changing language.


There are often unintended consequences and specificity can create those also.

Any listing, by its very nature, omits items not listed.

I want to argue that there is a right to communication, that individuals 
have a right to all information that affects them.

All means all.  If we specify health information, then I can read the list 
and say oh, then people don't have a right to their credit history.  If I 
specify health and financial, I can argue that people don't have a right to 
their arrest history, ...  If, further, I divide a category by, for health, 
saying physical and mental, I open up more areas for exclusion, not 
inclusion.  For instance, currently in US law many people with disabilities 
are not allowed access to their own unedited health records.

 > It was Sylvia's recommendation to then recommend the exclusion of 
physical and mental health information.

That isn't what I meant to say.  I objected to the qualifier.  If there's 
an appropriate place to single out health information, I'm OK with 
that.  What I resist is carving out mental health, talking about physical 
and mental health, instead of health.

Although I don't add my credentials usually, like most on this list, I too 
am an expert in the advocacy area.  I would hope my ideas would stand for 
themselves, but if you'd like some sense of who I am and what I do, and a 
few links to presentations and papers, 
http://www.peoplewho.org/sylvia/resume.htm

And as long as I'm getting personal, come wish me a 
<http://sylviaisseventy.blogspot.com/>Happy Seventieth Birthday at the blog.

Sylvia

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