An interactive ethical assessment of surveillance‐capable software within the home‐help service sector

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate ethical implications of surveillance by means of the care software “I‐Care” in the Swedish home‐help service sector.

Design/methodology/approach

A small‐scale interview study on home helpers' experiences of and reactions to the implementation of the care software “I‐Care” in their workspace has been conducted. The interview serves as the starting point for an ethical analysis of the impact of the care software “I‐Care” on key values within ethics: privacy, autonomy and equality.

Findings

The implementation and use case of surveillance capable technology in a home‐help service sector is assessed from the perspective of ethics. It is concluded that employees' level of awareness, access to sufficient and relevant information, as well as their chances of influencing surveillance conduct, are significant for their acceptance of the surveillance regime.

Originality/value

Surveillance in the home‐help service setting has been investigated from the perspective of ethnology and organizational studies but not, as here, from the perspective of ethics. Conditions for the ethical acceptance of workspace surveillance are suggested.

Citation

Palm, E. (2013), "An interactive ethical assessment of surveillance‐capable software within the home‐help service sector", Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 43-68. https://doi.org/10.1108/14779961311304158