Assessing the Human, Social, and Environmental Risks of Pervasive Computing

Abstract

The vision of Pervasive Computing is built on the assumption that computers will become part of everyday objects, augmenting them with information services and enhanced functionality. This article reports on the approach we have used to assess potential side effects of this development on human health and the environment, and the major risks we identified. Social risks such as the risk of conflicts between users and non-users of the technology were also included because of their potential indirect adverse health effects. Assessing a technological vision before it has materialized makes it necessary to deal with two types of uncertainty: first, the uncertainty of how fast and to what extent the technology will be taken up and how it will be used; second, the uncertainty of causal models connecting technology-related causes with potential health or environmental effects. Due to these uncertainties, quantitative methods to evaluate expected risks are inadequate. Instead, we developed a "risk filter" that makes it possible to rank risks according to a set of qualitative criteria based on the Precautionary Principle. As the overall result, it turned out that Pervasive Computing bears potential risks to health, society, and/or the environment in the following fields: Non-ionizing radiation, stress imposed on the user, restriction of consumers' and patients' freedom of choice, threats to ecological sustainability, and dissipation of responsibility in computer-controlled environments.

End-User Privacy in Human-Computer Interaction

“…A malicious disclosure? An interesting qualitative approach to risk analysis for ubicomp is provided by Hilty et al [141]. They suggest using a risk analysis process based on risk screening and risk filtering.…”

“…According to the precautionary principle, risk management should be "driven by making the social system more adaptive to surprises" [177]. They suggest to filter risks according to qualitative prioritization based on the following criteria [141]: The authors used this framework to analyze the social and technical risks of ubicomp technologies, including their social and environmental impact. However, while their heuristics are adequate for analyzing large scale social risks, they may not be adequate for risks arising at the interpersonal level.…”

Electronic Waste: A Growing Concern in Today′s Environment

“…Therefore, business as well as waste management officials are facing a new challenge, and e-Waste or waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is receiving considerable amount of attention from policy makers. Predictably, the number of electrical devices will continue to increase on the global scale, and microprocessors will be used in ever-increasing numbers in daily objects [1,2].…”

Ethical Issues in Ubiquitous Computing—Three Technology Assessment Studies Revisited

“…First, ubicomp technologies were attributed a higher dematerialization potential (potential to replace physical goods and processes by virtual ones) 4 compared to traditional computing, thus creating opportunities for sustainable development [12,15]. Second, the chemical elements (covering half of the periodic table) needed to produce the small ubicomp devices in vast numbers and the increasing problem that they are not recycled 5 were mentioned as a threat to sustainable development [12,17,18].…”