Big Data and Armed Conflict: Legal Issues Above and Below the Armed Conflict Threshold

This book explores the legal implications of using "big data" in extraterritorial military operations, including questions about the nature of civilian harm, scope of individual rights, atrocity investigation, and humanitarian relief. It is the first initiative to grapple with these issues and offers an initial roadmap for scholars and practitioners.

Format: Hardback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 05 March 2024
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

The utilization of "big data" in extraterritorial military operations raises significant legal concerns, which this book aims to address. Big data, referring to the vast amounts of data generated by modern information technologies and advanced analytics, is transforming the modern battlefield in profound ways. As with many new military technologies and capabilities, the diverse applications of big data raise complex questions regarding the translation of existing legal rules and principles into these new contexts. These concerns extend beyond the realm of weapon systems and military capabilities to encompass issues such as civilian harm, the scope of individual rights, atrocity investigations, and humanitarian relief.

The chapters in this book constitute the first comprehensive effort to explore a wide range of these questions. They examine whether and how jus ad bellum, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and international criminal law apply to operations involving big data. At the same time, the transformative nature of big data prompts deeper inquiries into the law itself, revealing gaps and interpretive ambiguities in existing legal frameworks that lead to critiques of these frameworks as inadequate.

While big data holds immense promise, it also poses risks to modern warfare and the rule of law. This book addresses these issues head-on, offers a diverse range of approaches, and provides an initial roadmap for navigating the legal complexities associated with big data in extraterritorial military operations.

Weight: 690g
Dimension: 163 x 243 x 34 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197668610