Ethical Risk Assessment for Less-than-Lethal technologies

The paper presents an ethical risk assessment process for the design and use of Less-than-Lethal Technologies (LLTs), both in law enforcement and military environments (reflecting dual use concerns). European policy with... [ view full abstract ]

The paper presents an ethical risk assessment process for the design and use of Less-than-Lethal Technologies (LLTs), both in law enforcement and military environments (reflecting dual use concerns). European policy with regard to emerging security technologies is considered. Various EU legal instruments are applicable both to R&D and to deployment: privacy and data protection norms, fundamental rights provisions, EU safety standards on dual use and export control rules. In this light, the development and deployment of LLTs should respect the core values and fundamental rights embodied in the European Convention on Human Rights. Most importantly, compliance should be particularly pursued at the R&D stage where ethical and societal issues should be duly considered and appropriately handled. This requires consideration of the possible uses of a LLT, in particular the individuals or categories of individuals that may be affected by its use.
In this context, the ethical risk assessment process is constructed using value sensitive design by the application of European Convention on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law. This approach allows LLTs developers to consider the ethical issues from the outset of the R&D stages, and to maximise the ethical compliance of the LLTs during deployment. The ethical assessment process is supplemented by Ethical Risk Assessment Form, a practical tool useful to developers and operational decision makers, which aims to support the ethical governance of LLTs. The risks posed by the identified challenges to ethical values are classified A – D. The value of the Form lies in its ability to direct the attention of the developer to those aspects of the design with the greatest ethical impact – and to illuminate the ways in which that impact might be reduced.
The ethical assessment process has been developed within the FP7 European Research Project Suicide Bomber Counteraction and Prevention (SUBCOP) in close relationship with the technology developers who are partners in the consortium. The tool is currently being validated though in-depth interviews, questionnaires and a table top exercise; the results of this process will be presented at the conference.