Skip to main content

Ethical Concerns of COVID-19 Contact Tracing: A Narrative Review

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
HCI International 2023 Posters (HCII 2023)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1832))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 927 Accesses

Abstract

Contact tracing has been widely adopted during COVID-19 to curb the spread of infection. Despite its effectiveness, ethical issues abound and many people are not willing to use it. Toward understanding the ethical issues arising from contact tracing and informing future epidemic intervention, we conducted a narrative review of 26 papers addressing ethical concerns of COVID contact tracing (N = 26). The issues identified by researchers included data leakage, surveillance, lack of accessibility, etc., and proposed solutions included data minimization, transparency, voluntary and temporary use, adhering to data protection standards, designing affordable wearable devices, etc. Based on the findings, we propose research and design implications to make future epidemic contact tracing effective and ethical at the same time.

Z.Shi and Z.Zhou—The first two authors contributed equally to this paper.

B.Shen—Independent Researcher

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Abeler, J., Bäcker, M., Buermeyer, U., Zillessen, H.: COVID-19 contact tracing and data protection can go together. JMIR mHealth uHealth. 8(4), e19359 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Abuhammad, S., Khabour, O. F., Alzoubi, K.H.: COVID-19 contact-tracing technology: acceptability and ethical issues of use. In: Patient Preference and Adherence, vol. 14, 1639–1647 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Afroogh, S., et al.: Tracing app technology: an ethical review in the COVID-19 era and directions for post-COVID-19. Ethics Inf. Technol. 24(3), 30 (2022)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Ahmed, N., Michelin, R. A., Xue, W., et al.: A survey of COVID-19 contact tracing apps. IEEE Access. 8, 134577–134601 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Alkhatib, A.: We need to talk about digital contact tracing. Interactions 27(4), 84–89 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Barocas, S., Levy, K.: Privacy dependencies. Wash. L. Rev. 95, 555 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Barrat, A., Cattuto, C., Kivelä, M., Lehmann, S., Saramäki, J.: Effect of manual and digital contact tracing on COVID-19 outbreaks: a study on empirical contact data. In: J. R. Soc. Interface, 182020100020201000 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Basu, S.: Effective contact tracing for COVID-19 using mobile phones: an ethical analysis of the mandatory use of the Aarogya Setu application in India. Cambridge Q. Healthcare Ethics. 262, 1–10 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Braun, V., Clarke, V.: Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual. Res. Psychol. 3(2), 77–101 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Breebaart, L.: Filosofen over de corona-app: begrijpt de overheid privacy wel? https://www.trouw.nl/gs-be38a475. Accessed 1 June 2020

  11. Chan, E.Y., Saqib, N.U.: Privacy concerns can explain unwillingness to download and use contact tracing apps when COVID-19 concerns are high. Comput. Human Behav. 119, 106718 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Chen, J., See, K.C.: Artificial intelligence for COVID-19: rapid review. J. Med. Internet Res. 22(10), e21476 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Chen, X., Xie, J., Wang, Z., Shen, B., Zhou, Z.: How we express ourselves freely: censorship, self-censorship, and anti-censorship on a Chinese social media. In: iConference, Part II, pp. 93–108 (2023)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Colizza, V., Grill, E., Mikolajczyk, R., et al.: Time to evaluate COVID-19 contact-tracing apps. Nat. Med. 27(3), 361–362 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Dar, A.B., Lone, A.H., Zahoor, S., Khan, A.A., Naaz, R.: Applicability of mobile contact tracing in fighting pandemic (COVID-19): issues, challenges and solutions. Comput. Sci. Rev. 38, 100307 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Grekousis, G., Liu, Y.: Digital contact tracing, community uptake, and proximity awareness technology to fight COVID-19: a systematic review. Sustain. Cities Soc. 71, 102995 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Hinch, R., Probert, W., Nurtay, A., et al.: Effective configurations of a digital contact tracing app: a report to NHSX (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Idrees, S.M., Nowostawski, M., Jameel, R.: Blockchain-based digital contact tracing apps for COVID-19 pandemic management: issues, challenges, solutions, and future directions. JMIR Med. Inform. 9(2), e25245 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Jahari, S.A., Hass, A., Hass, D., Joseph, M.: Navigating privacy concerns through societal benefits: a case of digital contact tracing applications. J. Consum. Behav. 21(3), 625–638 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Kim, M.J., Denyer, S.: A ‘travel log’ of the times in South Korea: Mapping the movements of coronavirus carriers. The Washington Post. 13 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Kostka, G., Habich-Sobiegalla, S.: In times of crisis: public perceptions toward COVID-19 contact tracing apps in China, Germany, and the United States. New Med. Soc. 14614448221083285 (2022)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Lanzing, M.: Contact tracing apps: an ethical roadmap. Ethics Inf. Technol. 23(1), 87–90 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Li, V.Q., Ma, L., Wu, X.: COVID-19, policy change, and post-pandemic data governance: a case analysis of contact tracing applications in East Asia. Policy Soc. 41(1), 129–142 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. LibertiesEU: COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps in the EU. https://www.liberties.eu/en/stories/trackerhub1-mainpage/43437. Accessed 2 June 2021

  25. Lucivero, F., Marelli, L., Hangel, N., et al.: Normative positions towards COVID-19 contact-tracing apps: findings from a large-scale qualitative study in nine European countries. Crit. Public Health 32(1), 5–18 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Morley, J., Cowls, J., Taddeo, M., Floridi, L.: Ethical guidelines for COVID-19 tracing apps. Nature 582(7810), 29–31 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Parker, M.J., Fraser, C., Abeler-Dörner, L., Bonsall, D.: Ethics of instantaneous contact tracing using mobile phone apps in the control of the COVID-19 pandemic. J. Med. Ethics 46(7), 427–431 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Ranisch, R., Nijsingh, N., Ballantyne, A., et al.: Digital contact tracing and exposure notification: ethical guidance for trustworthy pandemic management. Ethics Inf. Technol. 23, 285–294 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Romero, R.A., Young, S.D.: Ethical perspectives in sharing digital data for public health surveillance before and shortly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ethics Behav. 32(1), 22–31 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Simko, L., Chang, J., Jiang, M., Calo, R., Roesner, F., Kohno, T.: COVID-19 contact tracing and privacy: a longitudinal study of public opinion. Digital Threats Res. Pract. (DTRAP) 3(3), 1–36 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Sowmiya, B., Abhijith, V. S., Sudersan, S., Sakthi Jaya Sundar, R., Thangavel, M., Varalakshmi, P.: A survey on security and privacy issues in contact tracing application of COVID-19. SN Comput. Sci. 2, 1–11 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Sun, Y., Wang, W.Y.: Governing with health code: Standardising China’s data network systems during COVID-19. Policy Internet 14(3), 673–689 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Tidy, J.: Coronavirus: Israel enables emergency spy powers. In: BBC News, vol. 17 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Van der Schaar, M., Alaa, A. M., Floto, A., et al.: How artificial intelligence and machine learning can help healthcare systems respond to COVID-19. In: Machine Learning, 110, 1–14 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Veinot, T.C., Mitchell, H., Ancker, J.S.: Good intentions are not enough: how informatics interventions can worsen inequality. J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc. 25(8), 1080–1088 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Wei, M., Zhou, Z.: AI ethics issues in real world: Evidence from AI incident database. In: 56th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (2022)

    Google Scholar 

  37. White, L., van Basshuysen, P.: Privacy versus public health? A reassessment of centralised and decentralised digital contact tracing. Sci. Eng. Ethics 27(2), 23 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Williams, S.N., Armitage, C.J., Tampe, T., Dienes, K.: Public attitudes towards COVID-19 contact tracing apps: a UK-based focus group study. Health Expect. 24(2), 377–385 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Zastrow, M.: Coronavirus contact-tracing apps: can they slow the spread of COVID-19? In: Nature (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  40. Zhan, Z., Li, J., Cheng, Z. J.: Zero-covid strategy: what’s next? Int. J. Health Policy Manage. 12(Continuous), 1–7 (2023)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zhixin Shi or Zhixuan Zhou .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Shi, Z., Zhou, Z., Choudhry, A., Wei, M., Chen, X., Shen, B. (2023). Ethical Concerns of COVID-19 Contact Tracing: A Narrative Review. In: Stephanidis, C., Antona, M., Ntoa, S., Salvendy, G. (eds) HCI International 2023 Posters. HCII 2023. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1832. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35989-7_64

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35989-7_64

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-35988-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-35989-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics