On 31 March the European Parliament held a debate about ethics in the emerging new technologies. ETICA's final event, presenting its findings, was hosted by the EP's science assessment panel, STOA. One of the conclusions was the need to open a deeper debate on the ethical problems that may arise in the use of these new technologies.

Today, it is essential to follow ethical standards when it comes to continuing to develop new technologies, according to a participant in the EU-funded ETICA or "Ethical Issues of Emerging ICT Applications" project, which was hosted by the EP's science assessment panel, STOA.

Among the topics discussed, social media and other forms of interaction on the web shape personalities, especially of the young people, while the very existence of the internet is reshaping our society in unforeseeable ways. Digital citizenship and rapidly increasing man-machine interaction are already a fact of life. However they create multiple ethical dilemmas that need to be addressed. Another common conclusion was that technology has changed a lot but ethical questions haven't. What has changed is that the potential for damage has increased. 

Another view was, that we can have an understanding of the future and shape the society we want to live. In that future which will be marked by much more interaction between humans and technology. Targeted marketing on social network sites, the shaping of personalities especially of the young people are also ethical issues which need to be addressed.

Information and communication technology is already omnipresent, but often invisible. This raises the question of privacy when surfing the web and the related question of ICT as an instrument of control. There are decisions, more or less automatic, based on profiles, the presumption that somebody is a risk or an attractive target. The way in which this is happening and the way in which it is developing in our societies is rather worrying, according to the participans in the panel.