The Vice of Transparency. A Virtue Ethics Account of Trust in Technology

This article explores the relationship between trust, transparency, and technology from a virtue ethics perspective. It challenges the assumption that transparency is essential for trust, distinguishing between trust, reliance, and confidence. Transparency is then examined as both informational openness and a social process involving negotiation. The article argues that transparency in the first sense can lead to information overload and control dynamics, advocating instead for a balanced, virtuous relationship with technology that emphasizes user interpretative skills. It proposes that trust in technology depends both on individual attitudes and objectual reliability. Finally, the article critiques the contemporary “cult of transparency,” proposing that honesty, as a techno-moral virtue, should replace transparency as the design goal. Honest technologies would mediate and negotiate user access to information, fostering authentic trust and supporting human flourishing.