The new ethical trilemma: Security, privacy and transparency

Abstract

Numerous ethical and societal issues are related to the development of nanotechnology. Among them, the risk for privacy has long been discussed. Some people say that technology is neutral and that it does not really change the nature of problems, which are mainly political, while others state that its contemporary developments considerably amplify them; there are even persons who assert that it will make privacy protection obsolete. This paper discusses those different positions by making reference to the classical Panopticon that is an architecture for surveillance, which characterizes the total absence of privacy. It envisages the possible evolutions of the Panopticon due to the development of nanotechnologies. It shows that the influence of nanotechnology on privacy concerns cannot be dissociated from the influence of computers and biotechnologies, i.e. from what is currently called the NBIC convergence. Lastly, it concludes on the new ethical trade-off that has to be made between three contradictory requirements that are security, transparency and privacy.Keywords: Nano-Panopticon Nanotechnology Panopticon Privacy Security Sousveillance Surveillance Transparency Résumé Le développement des nano-technologies soulève de nombreuses questions d'ordreéthique et sociétal. Parmi elles, celles qui portent sur la protection de la vie privée ont fait l'objet de nombreux débats. Certains pensent que les technologies sont neutres et qu'elles ne changent pas fondamentalement les problèmes qui sont d'ordre politique, tandis que d'autres prétendent que les développements techniques contemporains les amplifient considérablement. Il existe même des personnes qui affirment que la protection de la vie privée devient obsolette. Cet article discute ces différentes positions en faisant référenceà l'architecture classique du Panopticon qui aété conçue pour faciliter la surveillance et qui se caractérise comme un totale privation de vie privée. Il envisage lesévolutions possibles du Panopticon dues au développement des nanotechnologies. Il montre que l'influence des nanotechnologies sur tout ce qui concerne la vie privée ne peutêtre dissociée de celle des ordinateurs et des biotechnologies, c'est-à-dire de ce que l'on a coutume de désigner comme la convergence NBIC. Enfin, cet article conclut sur le nouveau compromis qui doit

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