Samuel, G;
Roberts, SL;
Fiske, A;
Lucivero, F;
McLennan, S;
Phillips, A;
Hayes, S;
(2022)
COVID-19 contact tracing apps: UK public perceptions.
Critical Public Health
, 32
pp. 31-43.
10.1080/09581596.2021.1909707.
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Abstract
In order to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers around the globe have increasingly invested in digital health technologies to support the ‘test, track and trace’ approach of containing the spread of the novel coronavirus. These technologies include mobile ‘contact tracing’ applications (apps), which can trace individuals likely to have come into contact with those who have reported symptoms or tested positive for the virus and request that they self-isolate. This paper takes a critical public health perspective that advocates for ‘genuine participation’ in public health interventions and emphasises the need to take citizen’s knowledge into account during public health decision-making. In doing so, it presents and discusses the findings of a UK interview study that explored public views on the possibility of using a COVID-19 contact-tracing app public health intervention at the time the United Kingdom (UK) Government announced their decision to develop such a technology. Findings illustrated interviewees’ range and degree of understandings, misconceptions, and concerns about the possibility of using an app. In particular, concerns about privacy and surveillance predominated. Interviewees associated these concerns much more broadly than health by identifying with pre-existent British national narratives associated with individual liberty and autonomy. In extending and contributing to ongoing sociological research with public health, we argue that understanding and responding to these matters is vital, and that our findings demonstrate the need for a forward-looking, anticipatory strategy for public engagement as part of the responsible innovation of the COVID-19 contact-tracing app in the UK.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | COVID-19 contact tracing apps: UK public perceptions |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1080/09581596.2021.1909707 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2021.1909707 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | Contact-tracing apps, COVID-19, digital surveillance, pandemic, qualitative research, responsible innovation, anticipatory governance |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10129118 |
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