Arguments about novelty
It may as well be said outright that there is no agreement in the general ethics literature on whether or not new technologies have introduced new ethical issues. Some authors argue that recent advances have introduced new issues; others argue that they have not.
Kuflik (1992) maintains that the issues most often identified in computer ethics are not in fact new, although they may be heightened by the effects of technology. Kuflik first sorts the issues into four areas of concern:
- (1) direct risks to users;
- (2) privacy;
- (3) reliability; and
- (4) responsibility.