Case 3 SMART Lamp Posts [PDF]

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Case 3: SMART Lamp Posts 1. Who are the stakeholders involved in the development, deployment, and use of smart lampposts? Who should be consulted about such projects’ goals and development? In this situation, the stakeholders are the companies who create smart lampposts, the citizens, and the authorities who govern them. Before implementing such projects like these smart lampposts, the citizen should be consulted first. They should be the ones to consider first knowing that they are also the ones who will be greatly affected by this project. Moreover, the company and government have the responsibility to address the concerns of the citizens and also their willingness.



2. What steps might business and government teams need to take in order to access the information/perspectives needed to manage the ethical landscape of such projects? In implementing projects like this, the government and company should be transparent first. What is the project all about, what is its purpose, and how can it affect each and every individual it may cover. Citizens have the right in knowing the truth and be informed about the matters concerning them. After that, a mutual decision-making process is a must. In that case, the company and the government should give thought to the citizens' opinions regarding this matter and re-evaluate if the project is worth to be carried through. Without this mutual decision process, disagreement may arise which can cause violence, just like what happened in Hong Kong. It may appear that individual citizens only have little influence, however, when these like-minded people go together, they can have the ability to make difference with their ideas.



3. What are some ethical issues that should be addressed as part of the deployment of smart lampposts in cities? Do those issues differ from city to city? Smart lampposts are implemented with the purpose of saving energy, safety, and security and even assisting police investigations. However, with its usefulness, there are also unethical issues surrounding it. Privacy is a huge concern in our society nowadays. Smart lamppost may compromise our privacy with its face recognition features. In the case of Hongkong, the citizens are furious that if there are thousands of them, the personal information of protestors and rallyist may be sent to the government. Moreover, it can even make people anxious about what they can do. It will affect the way people act and behave. In my own opinion, these issues do not differ from city to city. The said issues will always be right there, it just depends on the government's credibility and the citizens' trust in it. Most people may still not notice that technologies are slowly controlling us. With this, it is a must that the rights of every citizen should be considered first.



4. How might the deployment of smart lampposts be evaluated through the ethical lenses of rights, justice/fairness, utilitarianism, common good, and virtue ethics? The deployment of smart lamppost has sparked debates about whether this government move is either ethical or unethical. In the ethical lens of rights approach, it is unethical since it does not respect the moral rights of everyone including the right to privacy and the personal freedom of the citizens. In terms of justice or fairness approach, it is also unethical since the said action is not fair to all people, even if they are benefited with it, it also harms them as well as giving them a burden. In the utilitarianism approach, even though the purpose of the action is the safety and security of people, it also brought harm by compromising people's privacy not only in the present but also in the near future. It definitely created more harm than benefits, so it is unethical. In terms of the common good, it is also safe to say that it is unethical since its intention is not effective in ensuring public safety. Lastly, in the virtue approach, it is also unethical since we are being responsible for our own privacy thus safeguarding it.