The Signal Code: A Human Rights Approach to Information During Crisis

The Signal Code is the result of a six month study by the Signal Program on Human Security and Technology at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to identify what human rights people have to information during disasters. The Signal Code identifies five rights from multiple sources of international human rights and humanitarian law and standards that already exist and apply to humanitarian information activities (HIAs).

These five rights are the following:

1. The Right to Information;
2. The Right to Protection;
3. The Right to Privacy and Security;
4. The Right to Data Agency; and
5. The Right to Rectification and Redress.

The goal of the Signal Code is to provide a foundation for the future development of ethical obligations for humanitarian actors and minimum technical standards for the safe, ethical, and responsible conduct of HIAs before, during, and after disasters strike.