COVID-19 Apps Are Terrible—They Didn't Have to Be

Brian E. Ray, Jane Bambauer

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Ray and Bambauer explain how state and federal governments, as well as private companies, "prioritiz[e]d a fetishized notion of individual privacy over collective public health," resulting in a series of decisions that made digital contact tracing extremely ineffective in the United States. They observe, "[t]he reluctance to leverage communications technologies to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus was so strong and so pervasive that the COVID-19 apps in operation today are underpowered and undersubscribed by design." They conclude with lessons to improve preparedness for a future public health crisis.

    Original languageAmerican English
    JournalLawfare
    StatePublished - Dec 21 2020

    Keywords

    • coronavirus
    • COVID-19
    • surveillance
    • public health
    • technology

    Disciplines

    • Community Health and Preventive Medicine
    • Health Law and Policy
    • Law
    • Public Health
    • Science and Technology Law

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