Privacy, Consent, and Care: Rethinking the Ethics of Dementia Technologies

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@article{1712534,
      author = {Christine I. O.},
      title = {Privacy, Consent, and Care: Rethinking the Ethics of Dementia Technologies},
      journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
      year = {2025},
      volume = {9},
      number = {5},
      pages = {2692-2697},
      issn = {2456-8880},
      url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1712534.pdf},
      abstract = {Dementia is a growing concern among ageing populations, necessitating an urgent need for safe, autonomous, and equitable ageing-in-place conditions. Digital technology, such as AI monitoring, sensors, and social robots, enhances safety and independence. However, important questions concerning privacy, dignity, consent, and access need to be addressed. Against this backdrop, this study provides evidence from ethics, technical, and governance discourses to evaluate whether dementia care technologies can be responsibly designed and implemented. Findings indicate that innovation outpaces ethics and regulation, resulting in contradictions between safety and autonomy, surveillance and dignity, and innovation and equity. Therefore, this study proposes participatory co-design, adaptive consent models, privacy-by-design principles, and foresight governance as necessary measures to ensure that technology augments, but never replaces, human care. Putting ethics and consumers' voices at the centre of innovation is essential to protect human rights and the dignity of dementia patients and their carers.},
      keywords = {Dementia Care, Ethical UX Design, Autonomy and Consent, Digital Tracking, Personalization},
      month = {November},
  }