Challenges and Opportunities of Lifelog Technologies: A Literature Review and Critical Analysis

Abstract

In a lifelog, data from various sources are combined to form a record from which one can retrieve information about oneself and the environment in which one is situated. It could be considered similar to an automated biography. Lifelog technology is still at an early stage of development. However, the history of lifelogs so far shows a clear academic, corporate and governmental interest. Therefore, a thorough inquiry into the ethical aspects of lifelogs could prove beneficial to the responsible development of this field. This article maps the main ethically relevant challenges and opportunities associated with the further development of lifelog technologies as discussed in the scholarly literature. By identifying challenges and opportunities in the current debate, we were able to identify other challenges and opportunities left unmentioned. Some of these challenges are partly explained by a blind spot in the current debate. Whilst the current debate focuses mainly on lifelogs held by individuals, lifelogs held by governmental institutions and corporations pose idiosyncratic ethical concerns as well. We have provided a brief taxonomy of lifelog technology to show the variety in uses for lifelogs. In addition, we provided a general approach to alleviate the ethical challenges identified in the critical analysis.

LifeLogging: Personal Big Data

“…There has been research into the ethical issues surrounding lifeloging as in Kelly et al (2013); Jacquemard et al (2013). For example, if my lifelog contains data of someone committing a crime (even a minor infringement such as somebody parked on a double-yellow line) then am I obliged to report it?…”

Smart-Glasses: Exposing and Elucidating the Ethical Issues

“…2013). Block unpleasant experiences and avoid anxiety (in a hospital setting) (Tse et al 2002) and to support patients with specific needs (of care) (Hetterich et al 2014) Psychological and health risks with smartglasses have been pointed out (Jacquemard et al 2014) Making learning more efficient or create new learning modes (Koper 2014). However, the outcomes of learning with smart-glasses are mixed (Sapargaliyev 2015) Safety aspects are also identified in the use of smart-glasses, e.g., in (pervasive) gaming (Valente et al 2015) or navigation (Jones 2014) Provide safety and security, e.g., for persons with various forms of impairment, such as detecting hazards for persons with visual impairment (He et al 2015), or in the industry (Neira Millan 2013) Smart-glasses are envisioned to threaten security (Boissier and Castelfranchi 2015) as information about a person and his or her behavior may become accessible by others (Nyang et al 2014).…”

“…However, the outcomes of learning with smart-glasses are mixed (Sapargaliyev 2015) Safety aspects are also identified in the use of smart-glasses, e.g., in (pervasive) gaming (Valente et al 2015) or navigation (Jones 2014) Provide safety and security, e.g., for persons with various forms of impairment, such as detecting hazards for persons with visual impairment (He et al 2015), or in the industry (Neira Millan 2013) Smart-glasses are envisioned to threaten security (Boissier and Castelfranchi 2015) as information about a person and his or her behavior may become accessible by others (Nyang et al 2014). Smart-glasses may increase situational awareness (Ackerman 2012), multitasking abilities (Nikolov 2013), and orientation (Muschiol 2015) May make people dependent (Bendel 2014) Assist recognizing and remembering (Iwamura et al 2014) as well as impede forgetting (Jacquemard et al 2014) Psychological and health risks with smartglasses have been pointed out (Jacquemard et al 2014) Be a valuable extension of the human brain (Bendel 2014) and predicting cognitive states (Henderson et al 2013) Safety aspects are also identified in the use of smart-glasses, e.g., in (pervasive) gaming (Valente et al 2015) or navigation (Jones 2014) Increase power through the aggregation of data, e.g., images (Bendel 2014). …”

“…Egenhofer and Kuhn 1998;M. Egenhofer 1999;Thiel and Thiel 2014;Lerch 2014;Koren and Klamma 2015;Boissier and Castelfranchi 2015;Ling et al 2014;Jacquemard et al 2014;Yoon et al 2015;Satyanarayanan et al 2015;Kumar and Sharma 2014;Arnold et al 2015;Haris et al 2014;Kotsios 2015;Speed et al 2013;S. I. Friedland 2015;Chalfen 2014).…”

“…It was pointed out that smart-glasses can distort our perception (Jacquemard et al 2014), "modify our perception and the world," or more directly "modify our world and ourselves" (Liberati and Nagataki 2015). According to a postphenomenological perspective (Ihde et al 2015;Rosenberger and Verbeek 2015), smart-glasses can change the way we perceive and act in the world (Harg 2014).…”