paint-brush

This story draft by @escholar has not been reviewed by an editor, YET.

Military technology and Politics

EScholar: Electronic Academic Papers for Scholars HackerNoon profile picture
EScholar: Electronic Academic Papers for Scholars

EScholar: Electronic Academic Papers for Scholars

@escholar

We publish the best academic work (that's too often lost to peer reviews & the TA's desk) to the global tech community

undefined @escholar
LEARN MORE ABOUT @ESCHOLAR'S
EXPERTISE AND PLACE ON THE INTERNET.

Author:

(1) Angelica Sofia Valeriani, Ethics of Information Technology, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.

Table of Links

1 Introduction

2 The new Empire of Surveillance Capitalism

3 Target Advertisement

4 Military technology and Politics

5 Focus on Ethical Frameworks

5.1 Utilitarian Framework

5.2 Deontology Framework

5.3 Direct comparison between Utilitarianism and Deontology

6 Conclusions, Acknowledgements, and References

4 Military technology and Politics

The type of targeting described in section 3 does not have only an economic surveillance effect, but also a great impact on the phenomenon of psychological surveillance, in the sense that technological means are used to enforce manipulation and access to personal and critical information. In this section, the focus is on the political and social order scenario. A main critical aspect, under the perspective of freedom and psychological imposition, is the fact that people are obliged to allow complete access to their data in order to gain access to necessary services. Apparently, they have the choice to deny permissions, but, in practice, they have not, because the majority of services require consent to complete access to data and this implies that denying permissions forbids the user to adopt both a specific necessary service and all the similar services that could substitute it [14, 19]. The lack of freedom is not shown only in such a mechanism, but also in other cases, related to the political and social context.


A practical example is related to video surveillance modules based on appearance-based person detection. Here, data are manipulated and processed to get features like skin detection. The use of these instruments can have very negative effects in contexts like totalitarian regimes, as they increase the oppressing power of the government and its ferocious control grip over both the mass and the opponents to the regime [8]. Surveillance technology has transformed the way military organizations operate, providing new capabilities for intelligence gathering, reconnaissance, and situational awareness. Drones, satellites, and other remote sensing technologies have enabled military organizations to monitor large areas and gather intelligence without putting troops in harm’s way. This has been particularly valuable in areas with hostile terrain or where it is difficult to gather intelligence using traditional methods. However, the use of surveillance technology in the military also raises concerns about privacy and ethical implications. The use of unmanned drones, for example, has been controversial due to the potential for civilian casualties and the lack of accountability for remote operators. Moreover, the use of surveillance technology in conflict zones can infringe on individuals’ privacy rights and lead to human rights violations.


As another example, considering now democratic countries, the improper use of Surveillance Capitalism instruments in the government field can be found in the field of elections and votes. Surveillance technology has also become an increasingly common tool in the political field, where it is used to monitor individuals and groups for a variety of purposes. Governments can use surveillance technology to monitor and track dissenting voices, both domestically and abroad, potentially leading to violations of human rights and civil liberties. This can have a chilling effect on freedom of speech and the ability of individuals to express their opinions without fear of retribution. Moreover, the use of surveillance technology in political campaigns has raised concerns about the manipulation of public opinion. Data collected from social media, for example, can be used to create detailed profiles of individuals and target them with personalized messages, potentially leading to manipulation and exploitation. This can undermine the democratic process by creating an uneven playing field and giving certain candidates or parties an unfair advantage. In fact, audiences in the political sphere can be influenced and forced into decisions that can lead to contradictions with people’s actual ideas. Obviously, persuasion and manipulation have always been part of the political and marketing worlds, but in this new Surveillance Capitalism, the effectiveness of this phenomenon is amplified. All choices can be manipulated by the external environment, as a psychological mechanism; the decision-making process is a complex procedure in which Surveillance Capitalism gains a great influence. In this scenario, personalized and targeted messages, but also fake news produced ad hoc by opponents, can undermine voter autonomy and change the course of history [9, 10].


On the whole, it must be noticed that the first and primary reason for which many countries invested so much in this intrusion into private life was to face the threat of cyber war that is directed at both entire military and financial systems. The most representative example is the one connected to terrorist attacks and the strong intention to prevent them and stem them. This goal is only reachable by increasing security control, so from this point of view, an intrusion into the ideals of people is very effective, even if not morally correct, to sooner discover eventual threats [10]. The same reasoning can be applied to the whole financial system, as attacks directed to this field are able to seriously persuade the majority of people, for example, losing all their assets and leading to a deep and spread crisis. Surveillance technology has had a significant impact on military and political fields, providing new capabilities for intelligence gathering and decision-making. However, it also raises concerns about privacy, ethics, and the potential for abuse. It is important for policymakers and regulators to develop clear guidelines and regulations to ensure that the use of surveillance technology is transparent, and accountable, and respects individuals’ rights and liberties. Moreover, individuals need to be aware of the potential risks and take steps to protect their privacy and security in an increasingly surveilled world.


This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED license.


L O A D I N G
. . . comments & more!

About Author

EScholar: Electronic Academic Papers for Scholars HackerNoon profile picture
EScholar: Electronic Academic Papers for Scholars@escholar
We publish the best academic work (that's too often lost to peer reviews & the TA's desk) to the global tech community

Topics

Around The Web...

Read on Terminal Reader
Read this story in a terminal
 Terminal
Read this story w/o Javascript
Read this story w/o Javascript
 Lite
X REMOVE AD