Anjela Mikhaylova, Sara Wilford, Bernd Stahl, Laurence Brooks, Smart Doorbells in a Surveillance Society, Ethical and Social Impacts of Information and Communication Technology: 22nd International Conference, ETHICOMP 2025, Lisbon, Portugal, September 17–19, 2025, Proceedings pp. 451 – 463
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-01429-0_39
Abstract
Smart doorbells, promoted as tools of convenience and peace of mind, extend far beyond their intended role as home security enhancements. They introduce new forms of domestic surveillance by capturing audio-visual data around properties, blurring the boundaries between private and public space.
This paper presents findings from the first phase of a two-stage qualitative study exploring how stakeholders perceive and navigate the ethical, legal, and social implications of smart doorbell surveillance.
Drawing on a pilot survey conducted in a Leicester (UK) neighbourhood, the study identifies several emergent themes: shifts in community trust, the use of surveillance in neighbour conflicts, issues of incidental recording and consent, and growing discomfort with the normalisation of surveillance. These findings are analysed through the theoretical lenses of Foucault’s Panopticism and Zuboff’s Surveillance Capitalism, highlighting how smart doorbells reshape behaviour, visibility, autonomy, and power dynamics at the residential threshold.
In response to these concerns, the discussion incorporates normative frameworks, specifically Privacy by Design, Ethics by Design, and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), to outline practical pathways for more responsible and ethical technology design and use.
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