The big idea: Rules are written for the technology that existed when they were written.
Something genuinely new does not break the old rules — it sits outside them, doing something nobody thought to allow or forbid.
Why guidelines must be revisited: "It was legal" and "it was right" stop matching when the technology changes.
A rule saying a photograph needs consent said nothing about a camera worn all day, because no such camera existed.
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Individual rights
- Can a person still choose not to take part?
- Can they find out what is held about them, and correct it?
- Is there a decision they can appeal against?
- Refusing often costs access to something essential
Privacy
- What is collected, and did anyone agree to it?
- Does it capture bystanders who never agreed at all?
- Consent for one purpose does not cover later ones
- Data collected now may be used in ways nobody has thought of yet
Equity
- Who can afford it, and who is left behind?
- Does it work as well for everyone, or mainly for the majority?
- A service that assumes a smartphone excludes those without one
- Benefits and harms rarely land on the same people
The fourth lens: society: Beyond the individual: what happens when everyone has it?
A camera is one thing; cameras everywhere change how people behave in public. That shift is a separate question from any single camera.
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1
Quantum computing
2
Augmented reality
3
Virtual reality
4
Pervasive AI
The pattern behind all four: Each one collects more, decides more, or reaches further than what the existing rules were written for.
That is why the guide asks for guidelines to be continually reassessed rather than written once.
How this is tested — you must apply a lens — rights, privacy, equity, society — to the specific technology. It comes up two ways:
Paper 1 Section A
- Discuss the ethics of a named technology, 4-6 marks
- Explain why guidelines must be reassessed
- Say who benefits and who is affected
Paper 1 Section B — case study
- Discuss the case study's wider implications
- Weigh its benefits against its social costs
The classic trap: Writing that a technology is "good and bad" in general terms. Name who is affected, how, and what would reduce it — a discussion is about specific people, not abstractions.
IB-style questionDiscuss[6 marks]
A city proposes issuing augmented-reality glasses to all its public transport staff, recording everything they see. Discuss the ethical implications.
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