Disclosive ethics and information technology: disclosing facial recognition systems

This paper is an attempt to present disclosive ethics as a framework for computer and information ethics � in line with the suggestions by Brey, but also in quite a different manner. The potential of such an approach is demonstrated through a disclosive analysis of facial recognition systems. The paper argues that the politics of information technology is a particularly powerful politics since information technology is an opaque technology � i.e. relatively closed to scrutiny. It presents the design of technology as a process of closure in which design and use decisions become black-boxed and progressively enclosed in increasingly complex sociotechnical networks. It further argues for a disclosive ethics that aims to disclose the nondisclosure of politics by claiming a place for ethics in every actual operation of power � as manifested in actual design and use decisions and practices. It also proposes that disclosive ethics would aim to trace and disclose the intentional and emerging enclosure of politics from the very minute technical detail through to social practices and complex social-technical networks. The paper then proceeds to do a disclosive analysis of facial recognition systems. This analysis discloses that seemingly trivial biases in recognition rates of FRSs can emerge as very significant political acts when these systems become used in practice

Emotions in context: examining pervasive affective sensing systems, applications, and analyses

Pervasive sensing has opened up new opportunities for measuring our feelings and understanding our behavior by monitoring our affective states while mobile. This review paper surveys pervasive affect sensing by examining and considering three major elements of affective pervasive systems, namely; “sensing”, “analysis”, and “application”. Sensing investigates the different sensing modalities that are used in existing real-time affective applications, Analysis explores different approaches to emotion recognition and visualization based on different types of collected data, and Application investigates different leading areas of affective applications. For each of the three aspects, the paper includes an extensive survey of the literature and finally outlines some of challenges and future research opportunities of affective sensing in the context of pervasive computing

Ethics and social networking sites: A disclosive analysis of Facebook

Paper has been accepted for publication in Information, Technology and People.Purpose: This paper provides insights into the moral values embodied by a popular social networking site (SNS), Facebook. We adopt the position that technology as well as humans has a moral character in order to disclose ethical concerns that are not transparent to users of the site. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based upon qualitative field work, involving participant observation, conducted over a two year period. Findings: Much research on the ethics of information systems has focused on the way that people deploy particular technologies, and the consequences arising, with a view to making policy recommendations and ethical interventions. By focusing on technology as a moral actor with reach across and beyond the Internet, we reveal the complex and diffuse nature of ethical responsibility in our case and the consequent implications for governance of SNS. Research limitations/implications: We situate our research in a body of work known as disclosive ethics and argue for an ongoing process of evaluating SNS to reveal their moral importance. Along with other authors in the genre, our work is largely descriptive, but we engage with prior research by Brey and Introna to highlight the scope for theory development. Practical implications: Governance measures that require the developers of social networking sites to revise their designs fail to address the diffuse nature of ethical responsibility in this case. Such technologies need to be opened up to scrutiny on a regular basis to increase public awareness of the issues and thereby disclose concerns to a wider audience. We suggest that there is value in studying the development and use of these technologies in their infancy, or if established, in the experiences of novice users. Furthermore, flash points in technological trajectories can prove useful sites of investigation. Originality/value: Existing research on social networking sites either fails to address ethical concerns head on or adopts a tool view of the technologies so that the focus is on the ethical behaviour of users. We focus upon the agency, and hence the moral character, of technology to show both the possibilities for, and limitations of, ethical interventions in such cases

Facial Recognition Technology Code of Ethics

Facial recognition technology (FRT) is a tool used to identify individuals by scanning their face and comparing it to a database of facial images. In the last decade, the use of FRT has rapidly increased and is now used all around the world. This has resulted in many ethical issues caused by taking an individual’s images without consent to train FRT programs, FRT misidentifying individuals, and using FRT to classify individuals as part of specific groups based on appearance alone. Because of these issues, a new code of ethics is proposed to provide a guideline for the creation and use of FRT. The code of ethics will prevent images of individuals from being taken and used without their consent and prevent FRT from being used unethically

Ethics of Facial Recognition Technology in Law Enforcement: A Case Study

Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) has promising applications in law enforcement due to its efficiency and cost-effectiveness. However, this technology poses significant ethical concerns that overshadow its benefits. Responsible use of FRT requires consideration of these ethical concerns that legislation fails to cover. This study investigates the ethical issues of FRT use and relevant ethical frameworks and principles designed to combat these issues. Drawing on this, we propose and discuss a code of ethics for FRT to ensure its ethical use in the context of New Zealand law enforcement

Recommendations for Ethical Usage of Facial Recognition Technology

This paper investigates the current state of Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) and the ethical concerns surrounding it discussed in literature. Based on these concerns, a code of ethics is developed to provide recommendations on how to use FRT ethically. The essence of this code is to protect the rights of citizens and to use FRT in a way that minimizes misuse and benefits all. Finally, a specific use case of FRT is introduced to demonstrate how the proposed code of ethics can be applied effectively to a real project. The findings are then summarized, and recommendations made going forward