This book provides a wide and deep perspective on the ethical issues raised by pervasive
information and communication technology (PICT) - small powerful and often inexpensive
Internet-connected computing devices and systems. It describes complex and unfamiliar
technologies and their implications including the transformative potential of augmented
reality the power of location-linked information and the uses of big data and explains
potential threats including privacy invaded security violated and independence compromised
often through widespread and lucrative manipulation. PICT is changing how we live providing
entertainment useful tools and life-saving systems. But the very smartphones that connect us
to each other and to unlimited knowledge also provide a stream of data to systems that can be
used for targeted advertising or police surveillance. Paradoxically PICT expands our personal
horizons while weaving a web that may ensnare whole communities. Chapters describe particular
cases of PICT gone wrong but also highlight its general utility. Every chapter includes
ethical analysis and guidance both specific and general. Topics are as focused as the Stuxnet
worm and as broad as the innumerable ways new technologies are transforming medical care.
Written for a broad audience and suitable for classes in emerging technologies the book is an
example of anticipatory ethics - ethical analysis aimed at influencing the development of new
technologies (Deborah Johnson 2010). The growth of PICT is outpacing the development of
regulations and laws to protect individuals organizations and nations from unintended harm
and malicious havoc. This book alerts users to some of the hazards of PICT encourages
designers developers and merchants of PICT to take seriously their ethical responsibilities -
if only to do no harm - before their products go public and introduces citizens and policy
makers to challenges and opportunities that must not be ignored.
