Ethical-Legal Challenges in User-Centric AmI Services

Mobile devices are increasingly evolving into tools to orientate in and interact with the environment, thus introducing a user-centric approach to Ambient Intelligence. The MINAmI project aims at creating core technologies for these kinds of Ambient Intelligence services. In this paper we assess five scenarios that demonstrate forthcoming MINAmI-based devices. A brief legal and ethical analysis of the scenarios is conducted, which reveals various conflicting interests. The paper concludes with some thoughts on drafting ethical guidelines for Ambient Intelligence applications, as the nature and the needs of such applications are intrinsically different from the ones ethical guidelines have been dealing with earlier.