  Surveillance capitalism is a concept that describes the practice of
collecting and analyzing massive amounts of user data for the purpose of
targeted advertising and other forms of monetization. The phenomenon has become
increasingly prevalent in recent years, with tech companies like Google and
Facebook using users' personal information to deliver personalized content and
advertisements. Another example of surveillance capitalism is the use of
military technology to collect and analyze data for national security purposes.
In this context, surveillance capitalism involves the use of technologies like
facial recognition and social media monitoring to gather information on
individuals and groups deemed to be potential threats to national security.
This information is then used to inform military operations and
decision-making. This paper wants to analyze in a critical way the phenomenon
of surveillance capitalism, proposed under two different ethical framework
perspectives. Utilitarianism, a consequentialist ethical theory that judges
actions based on their ability to bring about the greatest amount of happiness
or pleasure for the greatest number of people, and Kantian deontology, a
non-consequentialist ethical theory that emphasizes the importance of
individual autonomy, freedom, and dignity. On one side, the utilitarian
framework enlightens how Information Technology (IT) and the features provided
offer, at first sight, all the positive perceptions to the majority of people,
happiness, entertainment, and pleasure. On the other side, the Kantian
deontology framework mostly focuses on the aspect of freedom and free will of
the individual. This topic is particularly related to the concession of
permissions to access data in change of services and the degree of influence
that manipulation performed by surveillance capitalism can generate.
