Influenceable Autonomy and Predictable Freedom in the IoE

The present thesis investigates how individuals can develop, exercise, and maintain autonomy and freedom in the presence of information technology. It is particularly interested in how information technology can impose autonomy constraints.

There are three distinct parts within this thesis. The first part identifies a problem with current autonomy discourse: There is no agreed upon object of reference when bemoaning loss of or risk to an individual’s autonomy. Believing this to be a detriment both to engage in useful discourse and to develop appropriate countermeasures against autonomy constraints that may be deemed inappropriate or unacceptable, the thesis introduces a pragmatic conceptual framework to classify autonomy constraints. This framework is informed by philosophical theory, privacy studies and the reflections of the notion of self-government in the legal domain, all of which are surveyed. In essence, the proposed framework divides autonomy in three categories: intrinsic autonomy, relational autonomy and informational autonomy.

The second part of the thesis investigates the role of information technology in enabling and facilitating autonomy constraints. The analysis identifies eleven characteristics of information technology, as it is embedded in society, so-called vectors of influence, that constitute risk to an individual’s autonomy in a substantial way. These vectors are assigned to three sets that correspond to the general sphere of the information transfer process to which they can be attributed to, namely domain-specific vectors, agent-specific vectors and information recipient - specific vectors.

The third part of the thesis investigates selected ethical and legal implications of autonomy constraints imposed by information technology. It shows the utility of the theoretical frameworks introduced earlier in the thesis, that is the pragmatic account of autonomy and the concept of vectors of influence, when conducting an ethical analysis of autonomy-constraining technology. It also traces the concept of autonomy in the European Data Laws, showing that the European regulator is becoming more aggressive in ensuring autonomy protection within the digital domain. Finally, the thesis investigates the impact of cultural embeddings of individuals on efforts to safeguard autonomy and shows intercultural flashpoints of autonomy differences. Further analysis suggests the importance of timing and speed of technology introduction as well as digital literacy when it comes to incurring autonomy risks through intercultural technology deployment and suggests strategies to mitigate these risks.

In view of this, the thesis approaches the exercise and constraint of autonomy in presence of information technology systems holistically. It contributes to establish a common understanding of (intuitive) terminology and concepts within the scope of inquiry, connects this to current phenomena arising out of ever-increasing interconnectivity and computational power and helps operationalize the protection of autonomy through application of the proposed frameworks.