COVID-19: Privacy versus health? Contact-tracing apps – tensions and risks

About

We currently face massive uncertainty when it comes to privacy in the Public Health sector. Contact-tracing apps are supposed to stop the spread of COVID-19. But, how far could these services impact our privacy? Could their data be abused by third parties? What are the implications for marginalized groups or minorities? Is mass surveillance ahead of us because of COVID-19 tracing? Collecting additional data, like location and detailed health information to train AI-models could offer additional insights compared to merely informing contacts. However, this greatly increases the privacy risk. In order to protect civil society’s privacy, we’d need to better understand the tensions, risks and opportunities regarding contact tracing. Let’s discuss critical questions in this context with two distinguished speakers, Dr. Meg Davis and Jörn Erbguth.

Speakers

Meg Davis

Principal Investigator @ Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

Jörn Erbguth

@ Geneva Macro Labs