Information technology law

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Information technology law (IT law), also known as information, communication and technology law (ICT law) or cyberlaw, concerns the juridical regulation of information technology, its possibilities and the consequences of its use, including computing, software coding, artificial intelligence, the internet and virtual worlds. The ICT field of law comprises elements of various branches of law, originating under various acts or statutes of parliaments, the common and continental law and international law. Some important areas it covers are information and data, communication, and information technology, both software and hardware and technical communications technology, including coding and protocols.

Due to the shifting and adapting nature of the technological industry, the nature, source and derivation of this information legal system and ideology changes significantly across borders, economies and in time. As a base structure, Information technology law is related to primarily governing dissemination of both (digitized) information and software, information security and crossing-border commerce. It raises specific issues of intellectual property, contract law, criminal law and fundamental rights like privacy, the right to self-determination and freedom of expression. Information technology law has also been heavily invested of late in issues such as obviating risks of data breaches and artificial intelligence.

Information technology law can also relate directly to dissemination and utlilzation of information within the legal industry, dubbed legal informatics. The nature of this utilisation of data and information technology platform is changing heavily with the advent of Artificial Intelligence systems, with major lawfirms in the United States of America, Australia, China, and the United Kingdom reporting pilot programs of Artificial Intelligence programs to assist in practices such as legal research, drafting and document review.