The Convergence of Virtual Reality and Social Networks: Threats to Privacy and Autonomy

Science and Engineering Ethics 22 (1):1-29 (2016)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The rapid evolution of information, communication and entertainment technologies will transform the lives of citizens and ultimately transform society. This paper focuses on ethical issues associated with the likely convergence of virtual realities and social networks, hereafter VRSNs. We examine a scenario in which a significant segment of the world’s population has a presence in a VRSN. Given the pace of technological development and the popularity of these new forms of social interaction, this scenario is plausible. However, it brings with it ethical problems. Two central ethical issues are addressed: those of privacy and those of autonomy. VRSNs pose threats to both privacy and autonomy. The threats to privacy can be broadly categorized as threats to informational privacy, threats to physical privacy, and threats to associational privacy. Each of these threats is further subdivided. The threats to autonomy can be broadly categorized as threats to freedom, to knowledge and to authenticity. Again, these three threats are divided into subcategories. Having categorized the main threats posed by VRSNs, a number of recommendations are provided so that policy-makers, developers, and users can make the best possible use of VRSNs

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,593

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

The moral value of informational privacy in cyberspace.Diane P. Michelfelder - 2001 - Ethics and Information Technology 3 (2):129-135.
Privacy and social interaction.Beate Roessler & Dorota Mokrosinska - 2013 - Philosophy and Social Criticism 39 (8):771-791.
Freedom and privacy in ambient intelligence.Philip Brey - 2005 - Ethics and Information Technology 7 (3):157-166.
Worker autonomy and the drama of digital networks in organizations.Philip Brey - 1999 - Journal of Business Ethics 22 (1):15 - 25.
A space of one’s own: autonomy, privacy, liberty.Maeve Cooke - 1999 - Philosophy and Social Criticism 25 (1):22-53.
Threats to Privacy.Charles Nesson - 2001 - Social Research: An International Quarterly 68:105-116.
Does privacy undermine community.Mark Tunick - 2001 - Journal of Value Inquiry 35 (4):517-534.

Analytics

Added to PP
2015-01-01

Downloads
103 (#156,436)

6 months
4 (#319,344)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author Profiles

Bert Gordijn
Dublin City University
Tim Jacquemard
Dublin City University
Peter Novitzky
University College London

References found in this work

Anarchy, State, and Utopia.Robert Nozick - 1974 - New York: Basic Books.
Anarchy, State, and Utopia.Robert Nozick - 1974 - Philosophy 52 (199):102-105.
On human rights.James Griffin - 2008 - New York: Oxford University Press.
The second treatise of government.John Locke - 1966 - [New York]: Barnes & Noble. Edited by J. W. Gough.
Brave new world. Huxley - 2006 - In Thomas L. Cooksey (ed.), Masterpieces of Philosophical Literature. Greenwood Press.

View all 19 references / Add more references