Ethical Challenges of Digital Technologies in Covid-19 Pandemic Management

AbstractThe Society of Control is a philosophical concept developed by Gilles Deleuze in the early 1990s to highlight the transition from Michel Foucault’s Disciplinary Society to a new social constitution of power assisted by digital technologies. The Society of Control is organized around switches, which convert data, and, in this way, exercise power. These switches take data inputs (digitized information about individuals) and transform them into outputs (decisions) based on their pre-programmed instructions. I call these switches “automated decision-making algorithms” (ADMAs) and look at ethical issues that arise from their impact on human freedom. I distinguish between negative and positive aspects of freedom and examine the impact of the ADMAs on both. My main argument is that freedom becomes endangered in this new ecosystem of computerized control, which makes individuals powerless in new and unprecedented ways. Finally, I suggest a few ways to recover freedom, while preserving the economic benefits of the ADMAs.

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Five Questions for Digital Migration Studies: Learning From Digital Connectivity and Forced Migration In(to) Europe

Social Media + Society ◽

10.1177/2056305118764425 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 205630511876442 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Koen Leurs ◽

Kevin Smets

Keyword(s):

Digital Media ◽

Common Ground ◽

Forced Migration ◽

Digital Technologies ◽

The Political ◽

Refugee Crisis ◽

Ethical Challenges ◽

Migration Studies ◽

Starting Point ◽

The Impact

This Special Collection “Forced migration and digital connectivity in(to) Europe” historicizes, contextualizes, empirically grounds, and conceptually reflects on the impact of digital technologies on forced migration. In this introductory essay, we elaborate digital migration as a developing field of research. Taking the exceptional attention for digital mediation within the recent so-called “European refugee crisis” as a starting point, we reflect on the main conceptual, methodological and ethical challenges for this emerging field and how it is taking shape through interdisciplinary dialogues and in interaction with policy and public debate. Our discussion is organized around five central questions: (1) Why Europe? (2) Where are the field and focus of digital migration studies? (3) Where is the human in digital migration? (4) Where is the political in digital migration? and (5) How can we de-center Europe in digital migration studies? Alongside establishing common ground between various communities of scholarship, we plea for non-digital-media-centric-ness and foreground a commitment toward social change, equity and social justice.

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New ethical challenges of digital technologies, machine learning and artificial intelligence in public health: a call for papers

Bulletin of the World Health Organization ◽

10.2471/blt.18.227686 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 97 (1) ◽

pp. 2-2 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Diana Zandi ◽

Andreas Reis ◽

Effy Vayena ◽

Kenneth Goodman

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Artificial Intelligence ◽

Machine Learning ◽

Digital Technologies ◽

Ethical Challenges

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An Iterative and Collaborative End-to-End Methodology Applied to Digital Mental Health

Frontiers in Psychiatry ◽

10.3389/fpsyt.2021.574440 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Laura Joy Boulos ◽

Alexandre Mendes ◽

Alexandra Delmas ◽

Ikram Chraibi Kaadoud

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Data Storage ◽

Health Sector ◽

Digital Technologies ◽

Mental Health Research ◽

Ethical Challenges ◽

Psychiatric Illnesses ◽

Global Pandemic ◽

Health Studies ◽

End To End

Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms together with advances in data storage have recently made it possible to better characterize, predict, prevent, and treat a range of psychiatric illnesses. Amid the rapidly growing number of biological devices and the exponential accumulation of data in the mental health sector, the upcoming years are facing a need to homogenize research and development processes in academia as well as in the private sector and to centralize data into federalizing platforms. This has become even more important in light of the current global pandemic. Here, we propose an end-to-end methodology that optimizes and homogenizes digital research processes. Each step of the process is elaborated from project conception to knowledge extraction, with a focus on data analysis. The methodology is based on iterative processes, thus allowing an adaptation to the rate at which digital technologies evolve. The methodology also advocates for interdisciplinary (from mathematics to psychology) and intersectoral (from academia to the industry) collaborations to merge the gap between fundamental and applied research. We also pinpoint the ethical challenges and technical and human biases (from data recorded to the end user) associated with digital mental health. In conclusion, our work provides guidelines for upcoming digital mental health studies, which will accompany the translation of fundamental mental health research to digital technologies.

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Surveilling Indigenous Communities in a Time of Pandemic

Surveillance & Society ◽

10.24908/ss.v18i3.14259 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 422-425

Author(s):

Simon Lambert ◽

Robert Henry

Keyword(s):

Health Outcomes ◽

Indigenous Peoples ◽

New Technologies ◽

Indigenous Health ◽

Digital Technologies ◽

Indigenous Communities ◽

Digital Tools ◽

Ethical Challenges ◽

Indigenous Resistance

Ongoing racism continues to violently impact on the cultures, lands, and bodies of Indigenous Peoples. While many health researchers are meeting the ethical challenges in working with Indigenous communities, this commentary draws attention to the often-uncritical adaption or use of digital tools. Many digital technologies, deliberately or accidently, lend themselves to overt or covert surveillance of communities. Indigenous resistance to surveillance must be understood in the context of colonization, and reassurances must be provided if the benefits of new technologies are to be fully realized for better Indigenous health outcomes.

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Demography in the Digital Era: New Data Sources for Population Research

10.31235/osf.io/24jp7 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Diego Alburez-Gutierrez ◽

Emilio Zagheni ◽

Samin Aref ◽

Soﬁa Gil-Clavel ◽

André Grow ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Digital Technologies ◽

Data Sources ◽

The Internet ◽

Ethical Challenges ◽

Demographic Research ◽

Digital Era ◽

Demographic Dynamics ◽

Ideal Position ◽

New Information ◽

The World

The spread of digital technologies and the increased access to the internet has contributed to the production and accumulation of unprecedented quantities of data about human behavior. Demographers, who have a long-standing interest in issues related to data and data quality, are in an ideal position to make sense of this new information. This paper discusses three ways in which the Data Revolution has created novel sources of data for demographic research. It discusses the unique technical and ethical challenges posed by these data sources and the opportunities they provide for understanding historical and contemporary demographic dynamics around the world.

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Ethical Challenges: Less About Moral Wrongdoing and More About Communication Breakdown

Perspectives on Gerontology ◽

10.1044/gero20.3.72 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

pp. 72-84 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Paula Leslie ◽

Mary Casper

Keyword(s):

Ethical Challenges ◽

Speech Language Pathology ◽

Thickened Liquids ◽

Communication Breakdown ◽

Professional Duty ◽

Language Pathology ◽

The Law ◽

Personal Case

“My patient refuses thickened liquids, should I discharge them from my caseload?” A version of this question appears at least weekly on the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's Community pages. People talk of respecting the patient's right to be non-compliant with speech-language pathology recommendations. We challenge use of the word “respect” and calling a patient “non-compliant” in the same sentence: does use of the latter term preclude the former? In this article we will share our reflections on why we are interested in these so called “ethical challenges” from a personal case level to what our professional duty requires of us. Our proposal is that the problems that we encounter are less to do with ethical or moral puzzles and usually due to inadequate communication. We will outline resources that clinicians may use to support their work from what seems to be a straightforward case to those that are mired in complexity. And we will tackle fears and facts regarding litigation and the law.

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