ELSA for the Smart City: Ethical, Legal, and Social Technologization of Homes, Cities, and Societies Through Standardized ELSA-Assessment—A Legal Point of View

Abstract Smart living environments such as the Smart Home or the Smart City are created by connecting various smart devices. The data-driven character of these IoT devices (IoT—Internet of Things) leads not only to an increase in comfort, but gives also rise to new legal, ethical, and social risks. Even though, IoT devices that are to be placed on the market in Europe shall undergo an approval process during which they are evaluated for their compliance with the entire legal system. Nevertheless, there is still a need to improve the analysis of the legal, ethical, and social impact on society prior to approving new technologies. Moreover, when different sets of data from individual devices are connected, more comprehensive information about residents can be accessed. Thus, legal, ethical, and social challenges also arise from the combination of several devices in a network in the context of Smart Homes or Smart Cities. We propose a standardized ELSA-assessment (ELSA—ethical, legal, social aspects) as a tool for the comprehensive analysis of IoT devices as well as networks. If the structure and composition of the IoT network is changed by adding a device or service, the assessment should be repeated. The standardized ELSA assessment could support responsible stakeholders in identifying and successfully mitigating unacceptable risks. Standardization of the assessment should enable repeatability and thus comparability of assessment results. In this way, legal, ethical, and social technologization of the Smart City can be ensured.