Pandemic mitigation in the digital age: digital epidemiological measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic
Klimburg, Alexander ; Faesen, Louk ; Verhagen, Paul ; Mirtl, Philipp
Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy, Vienna
2020
31 p.
epidemic disease ; digitalisation ; epidemiologic study ; prevention of contagion ; data processing ; privacy
AIES Studies
12
Technology
English
Bibliogr.;Ill.
"As the current coronavirus pandemic proceeds, several governments have already utilized digital epidemiological tools to combat the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, with some early successes. The role of user-based and provider-based data collection, and in particular location data, has characterized the mitigation strategies of some of the most effective national responses. These measures may impact individual privacy rights and therefore threaten to accentuate existing cognitive dissonance within public perceptions of trust in the use of surveillance tools by companies and governments alike in liberal democracies. The danger is that the public debate on the employment of these technologies may not only become excessively one-sided but will also not accurately reflect the existing technical capabilities and data-use realities of some governments, even in Europe. But an informed public debate is urgently needed. ..."
Digital
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