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Public Goods for Cyberhealth

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Public Goods for Cyberhealth 1 Cyberhealth and Informational Wellbeing By John Michael Thornton Darwin College April 2019 This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2 3 Preface This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for a degree or diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. I further state that no substantial part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text It does not exceed the prescribed word limit for the relevant Degree Committee. 4 Abstract Title: Cyberhealth and Informational Wellbeing Author: John Michael Thornton In this dissertation, I present a new framework for conceptualizing the digital landscape inspired by the field of public health. I call this framework Public Cyberhealth. This framework is an alternative to the dominant cybersecurity paradigm, which frames cyberspace as a digital battleground. I argue that the philosophy of public health can be useful for thinking about the normative justification for—and ethical limits on—government intervention in cyberspace, while public health policy and institutions can serve as examples of how to manifest these higher principles (e.g. the WHO, ethical review boards). This Public Cyberhealth framework takes seriously non-malicious threats to network robustness and resilience (e.g. human error, buggy code, natural disasters), highlights the impact of network threats and interventions on health and wellbeing, and is more thoughtful about protecting individual rights compared to the dominant cybersecurity lens typically used by policymakers and IT professionals. In addition to defining this alternative framework, I demonstrate how it may be used in three contexts. First, I explore how thinking about the digital landscape like a public health expert can help one to understand the role public goods play in maintaining robust digital networks. Second, I explore how this framework can help one to create polices which adequately account for how digital technologies impact health. And third, I define a theory of “informational wellbeing,” which seeks to capture the myriad of ways in which digital information and its use, control, accuracy, and accessibility impact personal wellbeing. The Public Cyberhealth framework is not only a useful and coherent way of thinking about technology policy, but also reveals interesting and surprising things about the nature of health, wellbeing, and identity in the digital age. 5 Acknowledgments I am grateful to the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, the University of Cambridge, and Darwin College for the opportunity to create this work. My deepest appreciation goes to my supervisor, Dr Stephen John, for his guidance throughout this process. I thank him for his patience, encouragement, and meticulous feedback. I would also like to thank my advisor Professor Tim Lewens and Dr Anna Alexandrova for their insightful comments on specific chapters. Lastly, I thank my parents for always encouraging my intellectual curiosity and my wife Isabel for being my partner in this and every adventure. I dedicate this thesis to them. 6 Contents Preface ................................................................................................................................... 3 Abstract ................................................................................................................................. 4 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. 5 Contents ................................................................................................................................ 6 List of Tables ....................................................................................................................... 7 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 8 0.1 Structure ................................................................................................................................................ 16 0.2 A Note on Scope .................................................................................................................................. 19 Chapter 1: Public Goods for Cyberhealth ............................................................... 21 1.1 Externalities, Public Goods, and Networks ............................................................................. 23 1.2 The Containment of Malware ........................................................................................................ 29 1.3 Obligation and Public Goods for Cyberhealth ........................................................................ 48 1.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 63 Chapter 2: Two Levels of Abstraction ...................................................................... 66 2.1 Levels of Abstraction ........................................................................................................................ 67 2.2 The Cybersecurity LoA ..................................................................................................................... 72 2.3 The Public Cyberhealth LoA .......................................................................................................... 82 2.4 Two Applications of Public Cyberhealth .................................................................................. 88 2.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 102 Chapter 3: Health and Cyberhealth ........................................................................ 104 3.1 Health and Public Health—Privileged Categories .............................................................. 106 3.2 Poor Cyberhealth and Public Health ........................................................................................ 111 3.3 Definitions of Disease ..................................................................................................................... 125 3.4 Poor Cyberhealth as Pathology .................................................................................................. 128 3.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 143 Chapter 4: Informational Wellbeing ...................................................................... 144 4.1 The Capability Approach to Wellbeing ................................................................................... 148 4.2 Informational Capabilities and Wellbeing ............................................................................. 153 4.3 A Theory of Informational Wellbeing ...................................................................................... 163 4.4 Value of the Theory ......................................................................................................................... 166 4.5 Generalizability ................................................................................................................................. 172 4.6 Informational Wellbeing as a Fundamental Capability ................................................... 174 4.7 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 189 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 191 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 197 7 List of Tables Table 1 ......................................................................................................................... 74 Table 2 ......................................................................................................................... 83 Table 3 ......................................................................................................................... 93 Table 4 ....................................................................................................................... 112 Table 5 ....................................................................................................................... 167 Table 6 ....................................................................................................................... 168 8 9 Introduction “[A] problem well put is half-solved…The way in which the problem is conceived decides what specific suggestions are entertained and which are dismissed; what data are selected and which rejected; it is the criterion for relevancy and irrelevancy of hypotheses and conceptual structures.”1 – John Dewey Today was a typical
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