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Shades of grey do not exist in all situations despite the laws dictating what is considered wrong or right. That results in the emergence of ethical dilemmas that are resolved through ethics, morals, and regulations that become the background for guiding a person’s actions. Notably, an individual’s actions are guided by personal judgment. Among the issues result in an ethical dilemma is the potential use of the government-run automated facial recognition systems on citizens. The ethical dilemma is due to the argument against and for the use of the system. Thus, this essay assesses how the ethical dilemma can be resolved after considering the normative ethics of consequentialism, deontology, and virtuism, along with the IET code of conduct and their values and BCS code of professional ethics.
According to Devlin (2019), the potential use of the government-run automated facial recognition systems on citizens has resulted in an ethical dilemma, with some people advocating for their use while others oppose them. Those advocating for the use of the technology claim that is essential in curbing the increasing crime rate. Others opposing its use claim that there lack laws guiding its use intrudes individual’s privacy, and not be a comprehensive technology as perceived. There are legal questions since facial data is collected without the consent of an individual. Although the technology has been adopted in economies like China, critics claim that its use results in the emergence of a police state.
In the UK, it has been rebuked by the biometrics commissioner who claims that the camera used in facial recognition is being used to police over the citizens who are mainly involved in the BREXIT political and economic debate. A false positive on persons of interest is also a concern that makes facial recognition a waste of public resources by the government. Nonetheless, facial recognition applications has aided in the identification of terrorists in airports and the recognition of missing children in India. Another concern is who benefits from the information stored through facial recognition application, and who polices over them?
The normative ethics tries to respond to the question, what should one do faced with an ethical dilemma? Hence, consequentialism is normative ethics that pay attention to the outcome of an action to the people and the world at large. Thus, an effort is considered wrong or right, depending on the result. A good action is one that benefits the majority as postulated by Juan Stuart Mill that “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as the tend to produce the reverse of happiness” (Ramsay, 2005, p. 102).
In the case consequentialists, the outcome of the use of facial recognition will benefit the large population through aiding in the identification of people of interest like the case of identification of the murderer in Rio carnival who had disguised himself as a woman (Delvin, 2019). The application has also played a critical role in the identification of missing children in India and eventual reuniting them with their parents. Hence, despite the errors attributed to the application, it has an overall positive impact on the general population in regards to security. Since security is a primary concern in all countries, the results of identification of the persons of interest made it an ideal application that will benefit masses through enhanced security.
The deontological ethics were developed by Immanuel Kant and are the opposite of the consequentialists. Deontologists focus on the action being undertaken rather than the outcome, like the case of consequentialists (Kant, 2018). Hence, deontologists focus on installing of the facial recognition devices is right or wrong. Thus from a deontologist’s point of view, it is wrong to install the applications since they collect data without the consent of a person, which infringes privacy. People ought to be informed to have consent when their personal information is being collected. Hence, deontologists oppose the use of the facial recognition systems on citizens by the government.
Aristotle developed the virtue ethics that focuses on happiness. Hence, one’s action should concentrate on personal happiness without considering the effect on others. Virtue refers to a trait within an individual that enables the person to function well. Hence virtuism requires one to act in such a way that the person will be happy irrespective of the effect on others. In this case, the use of the facial recognition system becomes relevant if one is faced with a security issue. The security issue may force an individual to recommend the installation of the system since that will make the person happy by having a perception of improved security. However, in case there are no security threats, the person may not require the installation of the system.
The British Computer Society (BCS) and the Code of Conduct require the members to adhere to the standards that have been established in the information and technology industry. The BCS establishes the ethics, standards, and social issues governing IT professionals. According to The Chartered Institute for IT (n.d.), in the 21st century, security and privacy issues are critical issues in the IT industry. Information needs to be protect after being collected with the consent of the individual. In this case, the facial recognition systems in the city, shopping malls, and other public places are against the standards established by the BCS code of conduct. Therefore, the BCS point of view, the systems should not be installed to monitor the public.
In the case of the IET code of conduct and values, the members of the professional body do not allow its members to engage in activities beyond the scope of their professionalism. Therefore, irrespective of the outcome of the facial recognition system, the engineer’s code of conduct does not empower them to engage in professional tasks that they are not reasonably competent; therefore, the code denies the use of the systems.
Ethical dilemmas affect decisions made by individuals when faced by issues. The moral, ethics and legal frameworks will determine the actions that a person will undertake. Hence, a person’s action may differ from that of the other because the normative ethics differ from one place to another. However, the professional code of ethics does not vary irrespective of the geographical difference.
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