• DOI:10.1007/S10677-013-9428-1
• Corpus ID: 144516798

The Relative Moral Risks of Untargeted and Targeted Surveillance

@article{Hadjimatheou2014TheRM,
  title={The Relative Moral Risks of Untargeted and Targeted Surveillance},
  author={Katerina Hadjimatheou},
  journal={Ethical Theory and Moral Practice},
  year={2014},
  volume={17},
  pages={187-207}
}

• K. Hadjimatheou
• Published 1 April 2014
• Political Science
• Ethical Theory and Moral Practice

Is surveillance that is targeted towards specific individuals easier to justify than surveillance that targets broad categories of people? Untargeted surveillance is routinely accused of treating innocent people as suspects in ways that are unfair and of failing to pursue security effectively. I argue that in a wide range of cases untargeted surveillance treats people less like suspects than more targeted alternatives. I also argue that it often deters unwanted behaviour more effectively than targeted alternatives, including profiling. In practice, untargeted surveillance is likely to be least costly morally and most efficient when used as a means of enforcing the rules of a specific activity or institution. Targeted alternatives are likely to be more appropriate means of law enforcement.