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Challenges of Ethical and Legal Responsibilities When Technologies’ Uses and Users Change: Social Networking Sites, Decision-Making Capacity and Dementia

Mackenzie, Robin, Batchelor, Rachel, Bobrowicz, Ania, Milne, Alisoun (2012) Challenges of Ethical and Legal Responsibilities When Technologies’ Uses and Users Change: Social Networking Sites, Decision-Making Capacity and Dementia. Ethics and Information Technology, 14 (2). pp. 99-108. ISSN 1388-1957. (doi:10.1007/s10676-012-9286-x) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:36883)

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The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10676-012-9286-x

Abstract

Successful technologies’ ubiquity changes uses, users and ethicolegal responsibilities and duties of care. We focus on dementia to review critically ethicolegal implications of increasing use of social networking sites (SNS) by those with compromised decision-making capacity, assessing concerned parties’ responsibilities. Although SNS contracts assume ongoing decision-making capacity, many users’ may be compromised or declining. Resulting ethicolegal issues include capacity to give informed consent to contracts, protection of online privacy including sharing and controlling data, data leaks between different digital platforms, and management of digital identities and footprints. SNS uses in healthcare raise additional issues. Online materials acting as archives of ‘the self’ bolster present and future identities for users with compromised capacity. E-health involves actual and potential intersection of data gathered for the purpose of delivering health technological support with data used for social networking purposes. Ethicolegal guidance is limited on the implications of SNS usage in contexts where users have impaired/reduced capacity to understand and/or consent to sharing personal data about their health, medication or location. Vulnerable adults and family/carers face uncertainty in regard to consent, data protection, online identity and legal liabilities. Ethicolegal responsibilities and duties of care of technology providers, healthcare professionals, regulatory bodies and policymakers need clarification.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1007/s10676-012-9286-x
Uncontrolled keywords: Decision-making capacity, Ethics, Law Privacy, Social networking sites, Dementia
Subjects: K Law
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > Kent Law School
Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Depositing User: Tina Thompson
Date Deposited: 25 Nov 2013 11:35 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:13 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/36883 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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  • Challenges of Ethical and Legal Responsibilities When Technologies’ Uses and Users Change: Social Networking Sites, Decision-Making Capacity and Dementia. (deposited 25 Nov 2013 11:35) [Currently Displayed]

University of Kent Author Information

Mackenzie, Robin.

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Bobrowicz, Ania.

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Milne, Alisoun.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0977-8156
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