Technology, individual rights and the ethical evaluation of risk
| Pages | 308-322 |
| Published date | 09 November 2010 |
| Date | 09 November 2010 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14779961011093327 |
| Author | Lanre‐Abass Bolatito Asiata |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Technology, individual rights
and the ethical evaluation of risk
Lanre-Abass Bolatito Asiata
Department of Philosophy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the risk arising from technological devices, such
as closed circuit television (CCTV) and nuclear power plants and the consequent effect on the rights to
privacy and security of individuals.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents critical and conceptual analyses of CCTV,
nuclear power plants and the rights of individuals. It also analyses how communitarianism and liberal
individualism would respond to right-infringements and risk-imposition. It draws on W.D. Ross’s
prima facie and actual duties to explain the pre-eminence of duty when certain duties conflict in a bid
to improve technology.
Findings – The paper discovers the importance of rights to individuals, particularly the rights to
privacy and security. It shows that, in some situations, government’s duty to respect the right to the
privacy of individuals conflicts with the duty to provide public goods, such as CCTV. The paper,
therefore, stresses that one duty has greater moral force than the other. In essence, the more incumbent
duty can be employed by government in justifying right-infringement and risk-imposition, though this
does not disvalue the rights of individuals.
Originality/value – The paper offers insight into ways of addressing questions such as: when is it
morally acceptable or justifiable to expose others to risk? When is infringement on people’s rights
permissible? Also, the paper is relevant to those in the areas of ethics and technology because it offers
an ethical analysis of risk-imposition and right-infringement by examining how ethical theories, such
as communitarianism and liberal individualism, would assess risks resulting from CCTV and
nuclear energy. It argues that consent is not enough to justify risk-imposition and right-infringement.
It concludes by drawing on W.D. Ross’s prima facie and actual duties as a means of justifying
risk-imposition and right-infringement by government.
Keywords Risk assessment,Closed circuit television, Ethics,Human rights, Nuclear power
Paper type Conceptual paper
1. Introduction
The effects of technology, such as closed circuit television (CCTV) and nuclear power
plants, on human beings raise many social, political and legal issues. This can be
attributed tothe co-evolution between technologyand human beings; hence, the question
of how to deal with thehazards and effects of new technologiesis often asked because of
the mutualrelation between technologyand human beings. The viewthat technology and
human beings shape each other is well captured by Grunwald(2004). He opines that as:
[...] a result of certain historical precedents, technology and society are no longer modeled in
terms of a one-way influence of technology on society. Rather, there is a form of
“co-evolution” between society and technology which allows technology to be shaped
according to the desires, fears and expectations of society (Grunwald, 2004, p. 177).
Certain risks are imposed on individuals by the government and its agencies which
infringe on their rights to privacy and security. This study offers an examination of
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1477-996X.htm
JICES
8,4
308
Received 4 November 2008
Revised 9 August 2010
Accepted 24 August 2010
Journal of Information,
Communication & Ethics in Society
Vol. 8 No. 4, 2010
pp. 308-322
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/14779961011093327
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