In this blog post, we will examine the various human rights issues brought about by advances in science and technology, as well as the legal and social challenges involved in resolving them.

Advances in Science and Technology and the Expansion of Human Rights

Science and technology have, before we knew it, taken center stage in our lives. In particular, it is no exaggeration to say that “biotechnology” has now become almost a part of everyday vocabulary. However, while science and technology have advanced at a dazzling pace, we have rarely engaged in serious public discourse linking these issues to agendas such as democracy, human rights, and social development. Rather, the advancement of science and technology has been naturally accepted as a means of ensuring the well-being and happiness of the community. As the result of scientists’ spirit of inquiry, science and technology were naturally regarded as contributing to the common good, and ordinary citizens have been content to trust scientific truth and the expertise of scientists while enjoying the fruits of their labor. In short, it can be said that “the laboratory remained outside the realm of democracy.”
Human rights generally refer to the rights to freedom and equality that every human being—regardless of ethnicity, nationality, race, gender, age, religion, disability, or sexual orientation—should rightfully enjoy without discrimination. Over time, the scope of human rights has gradually expanded. Until the first half of the 20th century, civil and political rights were central; by the mid-20th century, social rights related to the improvement of socioeconomic conditions became a major topic of discussion. Later, in the second half of the 20th century, new rights such as the right to a healthy environment, the right to peaceful survival, the right to safety, the right to know, consumer rights, and the right to access information began to be discussed. These rights are often referred to as “third-generation human rights” and are based not only on individual rights but also on solidarity among members of society and shared values. Along with this, environmental conservation, a safe life, peace, cultural diversity, and sustainable development have also become established as important elements of human rights.
The philosopher Francis Bacon said, “Truth has value in itself and must be pursued without hesitation.” This philosophy contributed to the freer development of science and laid the groundwork for scientists to conduct diverse research without social coercion. However, as the scope of human rights has greatly expanded, scientists today must consider human rights issues even within the research process and have entered an era where they must respect human dignity and rights in the development and application of science and technology.

New Human Rights Issues Arising from Advances in Science and Technology

While science and technology are advancing at a dazzling pace, new human rights issues arising from these advancements are emerging as serious social problems. Advances in biotechnology and information technology are causing various problems, including ethical issues surrounding gene-editing technology, ecological disruption due to environmental destruction, new infectious diseases and public health crises, social inequality resulting from the misuse of genetic information, privacy violations caused by personal data leaks, and the digital divide stemming from economic disparities. Recently, with the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI), new human rights issues have also emerged, including algorithmic bias, the use of personal data, and copyright and liability issues related to generative AI.
Furthermore, citizens have long been marginalized in the process of formulating and implementing science and technology policies. The fact that citizens—who are ultimately the ones most affected by these policies—are unable to participate sufficiently in the decision-making process is a significant problem. In representative democracies, science and technology policies are often decided primarily by the government, the legislature, and expert groups; when the focus is on strengthening national competitiveness or industrial development, the protection of citizens’ rights and human rights may not be adequately addressed.
Moreover, modern science and technology are advancing so rapidly that laws and institutions struggle to keep pace. This is commonly referred to as “cultural lag.” Simply put, technology is ten steps ahead, while laws and institutions remain only one step behind. As a result, citizens’ rights may not be fully reflected in the national policy-making process, or new human rights issues related to science and technology may be neglected without appropriate institutional responses.

Invasion of Privacy and Bioethical Issues

Although the research environment has advanced significantly and technological capabilities have improved dramatically, we are still unable to adequately address the problems that arise from the use of these technologies. A prime example is the issue of personal information and invasion of privacy.
Early concepts of privacy protection were centered on physical intrusions, such as home invasions. Today, however, information technology can be used to invade an individual’s privacy in various ways. The leakage of sensitive personal information—such as medical records, academic records, criminal histories, and financial information—can cause serious harm to an individual’s life.
In the past, technical examples such as eavesdropping using sound waves or miniature transmitters were frequently cited; today, however, personal information can be leaked through far more diverse means, including hacking, malware, phishing, database breaches, location data collection, and information gathering via smart devices and the Internet of Things (IoT). Information collected in this way may be managed in large-scale databases by governments or corporations, and there is also a risk that it could be misused by criminal organizations for various crimes, such as financial fraud or identity theft.
In fact, large-scale personal information leaks have occurred repeatedly in South Korea, and hacking incidents targeting internet service providers and public institutions have also continued steadily. These issues demonstrate that personal information protection is a critical human rights issue that goes beyond the mere management of information.

Biotechnology and the Need for Legal Standards

Another prominent human rights issue is bioethics, which is directly linked to life itself. In the movie ‘The Island’, the protagonist believes he is one of the few humans left on Earth, but it is revealed that he is actually a clone created using the genetic information of a specific human for organ transplantation. This plot raises the fundamental question of whether clones should have the same rights as humans.
Currently, human cloning is strictly restricted or prohibited in most countries, and ethical debates surrounding it continue. Furthermore, advances in biotechnology—such as stem cell research, gene-editing technologies, and embryonic research—have sparked vigorous discussions on the limits of recognizing human life and dignity. While technology is advancing rapidly, legal and ethical standards are still being continuously refined to keep pace.
Issues where legal standards are unclear also arise in areas such as in vitro fertilization and abortion. Laws and social consensus vary from country to country regarding when a fertilized embryo should be considered human and to what extent the rights of a fetus should be recognized, and these topics remain subjects of active debate today.
If technologies such as artificial wombs continue to advance in the future, creating an environment where humans can develop outside the mother’s body, new legal standards will need to be established accordingly. Traditionally, the birth of new life has occurred through the processes of pregnancy and childbirth. However, in the future, advances in biotechnology may make entirely new forms of birth possible.
In such a scenario, there is a possibility that researchers will continuously monitor the fetus’s growth process, and new ethical and legal issues may arise—such as the extent to which researchers can intervene if problems are detected during development, and the limits of their responsibility. Unless clear standards are established to address these issues, social confusion is bound to increase.
Therefore, to address human rights issues arising from the development and application of science and technology, legal and ethical standards must be established in advance—not only for technologies already in commercial use but also for those likely to be realized in the near future. Without sufficient preparation, human rights may not be adequately protected due to a “cultural lag,” and new social problems are likely to continue emerging.

Preventive Human Rights Protection Is Necessary

In addition to such cases, science and technology can give rise to various forms of human rights violations. To resolve these issues, laws and institutions capable of responding to a complex scientific and technological environment must be established. If rules and standards are unclear, there may be insufficient grounds to appropriately regulate or hold parties accountable even if new technologies that emerge in the future are misused contrary to their original purpose.
Human rights issues to date have largely been reactive in nature, addressing human rights violations that have already occurred or are currently underway. However, in the age of science and technology, a preventive approach is paramount when addressing human rights issues. For example, ethical issues related to human genome research or embryonic research should be discussed not because of past human rights violations, but to preemptively prevent risks that may arise in the future. As the impact of science and technology on human life continues to grow, a human rights protection system centered on prevention rather than reactive measures is becoming increasingly important.

The Role and Challenges of the International Community

On November 10, 1975, the United Nations General Assembly, through the “Declaration on the Use of Scientific and Technological Progress for Peace and the Welfare of Mankind,” emphasized that no country should restrict or violate human rights and freedoms due to scientific and technological development, and that everyone must be able to enjoy the benefits of science and technology equitably. It also clearly stated that states bear the responsibility to protect people from the negative effects arising from the misuse of science and technology.
Like all democratic nations, the Republic of Korea also proclaims human dignity and value as its highest principles in its Constitution and guarantees the right to pursue happiness and the right to equality. However, today, science and technology are often closely linked to international competition based on military and economic power, as well as the interests of massive capital. In contrast, the reality is that the laws and institutions regulating these technologies remain insufficient.
The reasons for this are, first, that within the international order, the binding force of international organizations and norms is often limited. Second, there remains a perception that science and technology constitute an independent sphere of development that is difficult for humans to fully control, which has contributed to a lack of adequate regulatory measures. Third, there are many cases where existing legal systems fail to keep pace with rapidly advancing science and technology. For these reasons, various human rights issues sometimes fall outside the scope of legal protection.

International cooperation and civic participation must go hand in hand

Therefore, to resolve the human rights issues caused by scientific and technological advancements, we must move beyond the national level to establish international consensus and norms. Until now, individual nations have operated under different legal systems, and coordination among them has been insufficient. However, as globalization deepens and science and technology exert cross-border influence, the need for the international community to establish common standards and norms is growing ever greater.
The most urgent task in protecting human rights from the adverse effects of science and technology is to establish international norms with substantive legal force and ensure that nations collectively adhere to them. In fact, various international organizations, including UNESCO, are continuously discussing international standards and principles to address bioethical issues arising in the fields of genetics, medicine, and the life sciences. Furthermore, international ethical principles and recommendations related to artificial intelligence (AI), gene editing, and digital technologies are also being steadily developed. Such international discussions and cooperation will become even more important in the future.
A coordinated international response to biotechnology has already become an essential task. For example, while some countries enforce strict regulations on human cloning, human embryo research, and germline gene editing, others have relatively lax regulations. If such technologies are used indiscriminately in countries without regulations, the impact will not be limited to those countries but could spread worldwide. Therefore, a system in which the international community establishes common standards and responds collectively is absolutely necessary.
Currently, South Korea has various laws in place to support or regulate research, development, and application of science and technology, including laws related to nuclear energy, the electric power industry, the Patent Act, the “Act on Bioethics and Safety,” and the “Framework Act on Science and Technology.” However, the legal framework still requires ongoing refinement to fully address new human rights issues arising from science and technology, such as the safety of life and the body, bioethics, personal data protection, ecosystem conservation, and the accountability and transparency of artificial intelligence.
The “Framework Act on Science and Technology” is based on the fundamental principles of ensuring that research, development, and application of science and technology achieve harmony between the natural environment and social and ethical values, grounded in human dignity; respecting the autonomy and creativity of scientists and engineers; and promoting the balanced development of the natural sciences and the humanities and social sciences. However, in actual policy-making processes, there are still many instances where the emphasis is placed on fostering science and technology and strengthening industrial competitiveness; therefore, systems that allow citizens to participate in the policy-making process need to be further expanded.
If a culture is fostered in which citizens directly participate in science and technology policy-making, discuss the human rights issues raised by science and technology, and publicly voice their opinions, this would greatly contribute to the protection of human rights. Citizen participation must occur from the earliest stages of science and technology development so that democratic values and human rights perspectives can be fully reflected in the direction of development and the content of research. Such citizen participation will play a crucial role not only in the formulation of national laws but also in the process of establishing international norms and institutions.
Ultimately, science and technology must serve as a means to enrich human life. The advancement of science and technology should not be an end in itself; rather, it must develop in a direction that upholds universal values such as human dignity, freedom, equality, and safety. To achieve this, innovation in science and technology must be accompanied by the balanced development of laws, institutions, ethics, and citizen participation. Furthermore, the state and the international community must collaborate to build a human rights-centered system of science and technology that protects future generations.