How Do Violations of Privacy and Moral Autonomy Threaten the Basis of Our Democracy?

Abstract

Behavior detection technologies are currently being developed to monitor and manage malintents and abnormal behavior from a distance in order to prevent terrorism and criminal attacks. We will show that serious ethical concerns are raised by capturing biometric features without informing people about the processing of their personal data. Our study of a range of European projects of second-generation biometrics, particularly of Intelligent information system supporting observation, searching and detection for security of citizens in urban environments (INDECT) and Automatic Detection of Abnormal Behaviour and Threats in Crowded Spaces (ADABTS), shows that violations of privacy put several other values in jeopardy. We will argue that since privacy is in functional relationship with other values such as autonomy, liberty, equal treatment and trust, one should take this into account when limiting privacy for protecting our security. If indeed it should become necessary to restrict our privacy in specific situations, thoughtful consideration must be given to other ways of securing the values that form the foundation of our liberal democratic society.