This is a Technicum podcast.

So far in this series, we have learned that almost every technology project has some ethical considerations attached.

To avoid unintended consequences, disenfranchisement, or potentially illegal activities, ethics

measures must be implemented. We learned that it's up to scientists and technology experts to go

beyond requirements, to embed ethics principles. To not only ask the question, could we, but should

we? Ethics is no longer an appendix or an add-on.

It's now becoming part of the project framework.

As a result, we are seeing things like annual ethics audits and continuous monitoring mechanisms.

Welcome to this special podcast series entitled Ethics and Technology, a prerequisite for European research.

I'm your host, Peter Ballant, from Technicon.

In this episode, we talk about the world of software and hardware engineering.

While this discipline is dominated mainly by coders, scientists, and engineers,

you will soon see that an underpinning of

responsible ethics is key to expecting effective results. The EU-funded X-Files project is an

effort to develop new tools, methods, and training programs for law enforcement officials

seeking to gain access to encrypted telephones that have been taken into

police custody as evidence.

And this is a big deal for a few reasons.

First, almost all mobile phones nowadays are encrypted, which gives everyone a highly effective

way of keeping their data under wraps.

So it's widespread.

Secondly, a confiscated phone may contain information that could solve crimes or even prevent

...