Simplicable Guide

20 Types of Technology Ethics

John Spacey, December 14, 2016

Technology ethics are principles that can be used to govern technology including factors such as risk management and individual rights. The following are common areas of technology ethics.

Access Rights

Access to empowering technology as a right or freedom.

Accountability

The rules of accountability for decisions made by technology.

Digital Rights

Protection of intellectual property rights, privacy and personality rights.

Environment

How to govern technologies that have potential to damage shared resources.

Existential Risk

Technologies that represent a threat to global quality of life or extinction of advanced life on earth.

Freedom

Technology provides tools that can be used to monitor and control societies raising broad questions related to freedom.

Health & Safety

Health and safety risks posed by technologies.

Human Enhancement

Human genetic engineering and human-machine integration.

Human Judgement

When do decisions require human judgement and when can they be automated?

Over-Automation

When does automation decrease quality of life?

Permanent Records

Retention of personally identifiable information.

Precautionary Principle

Who decides that a new technology is safe?

Privacy

Protection of privacy rights.

Security

What due diligence is required to ensure information security?

Self Modifying Technology

The unpredictable nature of certain types of artificial intelligence such as recursive self-improvement.

Self Replicating Technology

Are self replicating systems likely to become grey goo?

Technology Predictability

Questions around algorithms and artificial intelligence that humans may view as largely unpredictable and cryptic. For example, is it a violation of due diligence for an organization to implement technologies that it doesn't understand?