Developing Countries and the Law and Politics of Remote Sensing

Abstract

At the time when the Outer Space and the extra-terrestrial bodies were declared the “common heritage of all mankind” the extents of the potentials of these extra-terrestrial spaces and surfaces have yet to be determined. Remote Sensing is one of the offshoots of technological developments in the use of space which involves the direct acquisition of territorial information from sites outside the target territory. Technical developments have rendered previous restrictions on data scale, location, resolution and availability irrelevant. Considering these rapid advances, remote sensing technology is capable of generating and delivering a level of information detail that will violate individual right to privacy, which will no doubt, result to a number of direct legal and ethical consequences. Furthermore, advances in digital and information technology have resulted in rapid distribution of information to the global community. The practice of remote sensing has been difficult to justify based on the Common Heritage Principle and has given rise to political and legal questions concerning the rights of the “sensed” states and their citizens. This paper outlines the position of developing countries in the remote sensing scheme, and the effect of remote sensing on the rights of states and their citizens in theory and in practice.