Adoption of COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps: A Balance Between Privacy and Effectiveness

Abstract

With the relative ubiquity of smartphones, contact tracing and exposure notification apps have been looked to as novel methods to help reduce the transmission of COVID-19. Many countries have created apps that lie across a spectrum from privacy-first approaches to those that have very few privacy measures. The level of privacy incorporated into an app is largely based on the societal norms and values of a particular country. Digital health technologies can be highly effective and preserve privacy at the same time, but in the case of contact tracing and exposure notification apps, there is a trade-off between increased privacy measures and the effectiveness of the app. In this article, examples from various countries are used to highlight how characteristics of contract tracing and exposure notification apps contribute to the perceived levels of privacy awarded to citizens and how this impacts an app’s effectiveness. We conclude that finding the right balance between privacy and effectiveness, while critical, is challenging because it is highly context-specific.

Identifying and addressing digital health risks associated with emergency pandemic response: Problem identification, scoping review, and directions toward evidence-based evaluation

“…Control of citizen’s confidentiality, privacy and data protection may also be compromised [4] , [10] , [12] , [14] , [16] , [18] , [22] , [32] , [34] , [11] , [36] , [37] , [46] , [47] , [49] , [33] , [52] , [67] , [75] , [76] , [82] , [91] , [93] , [99] , [100] , [101] , [102] , [103] . In particular, contact tracing apps have been widely adopted for tracking COVID-19 infections [104] , raising privacy concerns regarding personal data breach [20] , [21] , [23] , [24] , [25] , [38] , [39] , [50] , [55] , [56] , [70] , [105] , [106] , [107] . The apps introduced by various countries may opt for different data sharing consent and data sharing policies.…”

Self-Focused and Other-Focused Health Concerns as Predictors of the Uptake of Corona Contact Tracing Apps: Empirical Study

“…These data are necessary to calculate whether an encounter was long enough to pose a substantial risk and for how long a warning needs to be displayed until the app user’s potential period of infectiousness ends [ 5 ]. Naturally, there is always a trade-off between data protection and the benefits that come with collecting and sharing more data [ 21 ]. If warnings include detailed information on the timing of encountering a COVID-19 carrier, the identity of the infected person might get exposed.…”

“…These different architectures have implications for privacy protection and data security. Hence, they might influence the outcome of benefit-risk analyses and might determine the willingness to adopt a technology [ 19 - 21 ].…”

Self-Focused and Other-Focused Health Concerns as Predictors of the Uptake of Corona Contact Tracing Apps: Empirical Study (Preprint)

“…These different architectures have implications for privacy protection and data security. Hence, they might influence the outcome of benefit-risk analyses and might determine the willingness to adopt a technology [19][20][21].…”