by Alistair R. Niemeijer ¹, Brenda J. M. Frederiks ², Ingrid I. Riphagen ³, Johan Legemaate ², Jan A. Eefsting ¹, Cees M. P. M. Hertogh ¹

• ¹ Department of Nursing Home Medicine/ EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research
• ² Department of Public and Occupational Health/ EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research
• ³ Norwegian University of Science and Technology

The findings show that application and use of surveillance technologies in residential care for vulnerable people generates considerable ethical debate. This ethical debate centers not so much around the effects of technology, but rather around the moral acceptability of those effects, especially when a conflict arises between the interests of the institution and the interests of the resident. However, the majority of articles lack in depth analysis. Furthermore, there are notable cultural differences between the European literature and American literature whereby in Britain there seems to be more ethical debate than in America. Overall however, there is little attention for the resident perspective. No ethical consensus has yet been reached, underlining the need for clear(er) policies. More research is thus recommended to determine ethical and practical viability of surveillance technologies whereby research should be specifically focused on the resident perspective.