The Ethics of Surveillance in Times of Emergency (Engaging Philosophy)

Chapter 10 is published open access and free to read or download from Oxford Academic.

The Ethics of Surveillance in Times of Emergency draws from the use of modern surveillance technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic to explore a set of issues and challenges facing decision-makers and designers in times of emergency: how do we respond to emergencies in ways that are both consistent with democratic and community principles, and that are ethically justifiable? Emergencies, like public health pandemics, not only place stress on existing infrastructure and communities, but put significant pressure on our decision-making. The use of surveillance technologies during public health crises is a vital frame to explore the challenge of acting in times of emergency. Moreover, as an exercise in reflective applied ethics, this book does not just seek to apply a given theory or principle to the problem of surveillance in times of emergency, but to use the challenges facing us to critically engage with, reflect upon, and develop those theories and principles.

The book's authors recognize this challenge--is it possible to respond to exceptional conditions in ways that either preserve our core values, or must these core values be subsumed under the need to respond to the particular emergency? The book offers responses to this challenge by looking at three interrelated ways in which can manifest: first, the democratic challenges; second, the ethical challenges; and third the design challenges faced in developing ethical solutions.