It is the aim of the present paper to emphasize the uniformity of ethical principles which are applied in the large variety of methods for technology assessment, ranging from the level of the individual citizen to that of society as a whole. A further aim is to emphasize that the application of such ethical principles is necessary not only for assessment situations comprised within the classical doctor-patient relationship, but also for assessing mass applications of preventive interventions (a type of application which is not to be confused with the widespread post-assessment application of already-tested methods).