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Ethical Issues of Emerging ICT Applications

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Being proactive about the ethics of ICT

An EU-funded project has made recommendations to address the ethical issues arising from emerging information and communication technologies (ICT) applications. Given the prominence of ICT in many European policies, such ethical awareness can help improve Europeans' quality of life.

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Almost every day there are reports in the media about the use and misuse of ICT. Examples include government officials mislaying confidential data or a company selling the personal data of underage users. These ethical issues are either caused by, or at least related to, the use of ICT. As ICT spreads further into the fabric of our personal and social lives, we must expect such ethical concerns to increase. To address these matters, the 'Ethical issues of emerging ICT applications' (ETICA) project, funded by the EU, was established. The project aimed to encourage a move from reaction to proactive engagement rather than waiting for an ethical issue around ICT to arise before considering how it might be avoided in future. Therefore, ETICA identified emerging ICT applications and their potential areas of usage in order to analyse and evaluate their related ethical issues. Project members investigated a significant number of ethical issues that already exist in daily life and in public debate. For example, many of those identified in the analysis of the 'future internet' technology are more severe cases of issues already being encountered on the internet today. By exploring technologies, ethical issues and current ways to address these, ETICA was able to develop two sets of recommendations: one for policymakers, and one for individuals and organisations involved in ICT research and development (R&D). In the future, implementing such recommendations will contribute to better and more ethically sensitive processes of ICT development across Europe.

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