Information, confidentialty and ethics

CONFLICTS IN THE IFORMATION SOCIETY

Abstract

This work aims to analyze the concept of ethics, information, and confidentiality, regarding the construction of citizenship and democracy with social participation. There is a concern between the right to access information versus the right to privacy, intimacy, and the right to preserve honor and image. Confidentiality is also protected as state security. To this end, we will use concepts and reflections from some philosophers who address issues such as information, morality, ethics, truth, and human dignity. The importance of this theme revolves around the social inclusion of citizens, holding the government accountable, the ethical stance of archivists regarding the demands and access to information by users, and the types of transparency, which can be passive and active, with the former aimed at citizen requests and the latter involving the spontaneous publication of information on websites and other communication channels by government agencies the levels of confidentiality in the country, that is, the state-of-the-art of access to information in Brazil, from a historical and philosophical perspective of legislation. The research conducted a bibliographic survey and regulations related to the relationships of archival policy with access to information, protection of personal data, intimacy, privacy, and honor with the process of ethics to respect human rights. Type of research (descriptive; exploratory; bibliographic; documented research, focused on regulations and legislation; reports, websites, etc.) In the empirical aspect, the research approach (qualitative-quantitative) considering Active Transparency on the website and the Access to Information Report of the Brazilian Institute of Science and Technology - IBICT for 2024, as well as the information contained on Gov-br indirectly about the National Archive of Brazil, from 2020 to 2024, and Passive Transparency with the number of requests and inquiries, appeals, and data analysis procedures of these agencies. In the partial considerations, the importance of building a culture of law and access to information, transparency, bureaucracy reduction, innovation, integrated networks, and facilitative technologies for government services and products is highlighted. Based on ethical values and human rights, one can aspire to a fairer society, where digital inclusion fits into a democratic process, with better distribution of information in the information and knowledge society. Another major conflict is the confrontation between the right to information and the individual's right to privacy, where individuals should not have their intimacy violated and their honor disrespected. Thus, the Access to Information Law (LAI) is directly related to archival ethics in the dissemination and open and equitable access to information inherent in documents. The availability and accessibility of information requested by citizens, in an organized manner, depends on Archival Science and the mediation of archivists. As for access to information by users, researchers, and ultimately citizens. In this process, the professional ethics of archivists is essential to ensure transparency and security of information, according to the LAI (Access to Information Law). Therefore, all these principles of the Access to Information Law enshrine the primacy of fundamental rights, reclaimed and expanded after 20 years of Civil-Military Dictatorship from 1964-1985, in the context of transitional justice, with the issue of human dignity brought up and discussed by the Brazilian film: "I’m Still Here," which was nominated for an Oscar. These rights were suppressed, including freedom of expression and access to information, which were restored through demands during the democratic period for the right to truth and memory.