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The ethics and value of contact tracing apps

International insights and implications for Scotland’s Covid-19 response

Bibliographic Data

ID19550999
AuthorsClaudia Pagliari (0000-0001-5791-7723, University of Edinburgh, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume10
Issue2
Pages020103-020103
Publication date2020-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Global Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2047-2978 • E-ISSN: 2047-2986
PublisherInternational Society of Global Health (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.7189/jogh.10.020103
PMID33110502
OpenAlexW3047121211
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited11

The COVID-19 pandemic has put health systems, economies and societies under unprecedented strain, calling for innovative approaches. Scotland's government, like those elsewhere, is facing difficult decisions about how to deploy digital technologies and data to help contain, control and manage the disease, while also respecting citizens' rights. This paper explores the ethical challenges presented by these methods, with particular emphasis on mobile apps associated with contact tracing. Drawing on UK and international experiences, it examines issues such as public trust, data privacy and technology design; how changing disease threats and contextual factors can affect the balance between public benefits and risks; and the importance of transparency, accountability and stakeholder participation for the trustworthiness and good-governance of digital systems and strategies. Analysis of recent technology debates, controversial programmes and emerging outcomes in comparable countries implementing contact tracing apps, reveals sociotechnical complexities and unexpected paradoxes that warrant further study and underlines the need for holistic, inclusive and adaptive strategies. The paper also considers the potential role of these apps as Scotland transitions to the 'new normal', outlines challenges and opportunities for public engagement, and poses a set of ethical questions to inform decision-making at multiple levels, from software design to institutional governance

Accountability · Business · Corporate governance · Data governance · Data quality · Internet privacy · Knowledge management · Political science · Public relations · Sociotechnical system · Stakeholder · Computer Science · COVID-19 Digital Contact Tracing · Data-Driven Disease Surveillance · Immune responses and vaccinations · Law · Marketing

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    Open Access•Kevin Macnish, Adam Henschke•Ethics of Surveillance in Times…•2023

  • Synthesizing humane futures

    Open Access•Thomas F Connolly•SN Social Sciences•2025

  • Qualitative comparative analysis of policies implemented by 26 European countries during the 2020 great lockdown

    Open Access•Zhipeng Wang, Zhi‐Peng Wang et al.•Frontiers in Public Health•2024

  • From Diaries to Data Doubles. Self-Tracking in Dutch Diaries (1780–1940)

    Open Access•Leonieke Vermeer•Life Writing•2022

  • Public health measures and the rise of incidental surveillance

    Open Access•Bart A Kamphorst, Adam Henschke•Ethics and Information Technology•2023

  • Tracing app technology

    Open Access•Saleh Afroogh, Amir Esmalian et al.•Ethics and Information Technology•2022

  • Trusting the Government to Do the Right Thing

    Open Access•Sally Dalton‐Brown•Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare…•2023

  • Contact tracing apps, nationalism, and users with disability in the Global South

    Open Access•Abdul Rohman, Dyah Pitaloka•Mobile Media & Communication•2023

  • Widening or narrowing inequalities? The equity implications of digital tools to support Covid‐19 contact tracing

    Open Access•Catherine O’donnell, Masahiko Akiyama et al.•Health Expectations•2022

  • Health vs. privacy? The risk-risk tradeoff in using Covid-19 contact-tracing apps

    Open Access•Cong Duc Tran, Tin Trung Nguyen•Technology in Society•2021

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    Open Access•Tahereh Saheb, Elham Sabour et al.•Technology in Society•2022

  • Covid-19 contact tracing apps and the governance of collective action

    Katerina Sideri, Barbara Prainsack•Policy Studies•2023

  • Real-time tracking of self-reported symptoms to predict potential Covid-19

    Open Access•Cristina Menni, Ana M Valdes et al.•Nature Medicine•2020

  • Ethical guidelines for Covid-19 tracing apps

    Open Access•Jessica Morley, Josh Cowls et al.•Nature•2020

  • Digital technology for health sector governance in low and middle income countries

    Open Access•Isaac Holeman, Tara Patricia Cookson et al.•Journal of Global Health•2016

  • Negotiating the reuse of health-data

    Open Access•Johannes Starkbaum, U Felt•Big Data & Society•2019

Unique citing works13
Citations per year2,6
Citation span2021 - 2026 (6)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 12
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