LOGBOOK

HELP

Quiz Entry - updated: 2026.10.22

What are the five principles of digital ethics applied to health technology?

Care ("do good"), harm avoidance ("do no harm"), justice (treat like cases alike and unlike cases differently), respect for autonomy / self-determination (including over one's own data), and in addition transparency (the use of digital tools must be disclosed and comprehensible).

  1. Care / beneficence (Fürsorge): do everything that promotes a person's well-being.
  2. Harm avoidance / non-maleficence (Schadensvermeidung): refrain from acts that harm people.
  3. Justice (Gerechtigkeit): treat equal cases equally and unequal cases unequally.
  4. Respect for autonomy / self-determination (Selbstbestimmung): everyone may decide freely, including about their own data. This covers informational self-determination and contextual integrity (see the card on those two).
  5. Transparency, added for the digital context: the use of digital tools must be disclosed and comprehensible.

The first four are exactly the classic four principles of medical ethics (Beauchamp and Childress); digital ethics adds transparency because a patient cannot consent to, or question, a tool they don't know is being used.

Go deeper:

From Quiz: ETHIK / Medical and Care Ethics: Principles, Rationing and Digital Health | Updated: Oct 22, 2026