Rana, O;
Llanos, J;
Carr, M;
(2021)
Lessons from the GDPR in the COVID-19 era.
Academia Letters
pp. 1-6.
10.20935/al429.
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Abstract
As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic keeps claiming human lives and ravaging the global economy, governments, businesses and individuals have turned to digital technologies to both contain the virus and adapt to the ‘new normal’. To interrupt the chain of transmission more effectively, numerous contact-tracing apps - which notify people that they have been in close proximity with COVID-19 carriers - have been rolled out globally. Restaurants, pubs and hospitality businesses have embraced a multitude of mobile apps allowing customers to book tables, place orders and make payments remotely and without human contact, in a move to protect their staff and facilitate social distancing. In response to lockdown measures, people have flocked to the Internet to work, conduct business, stay close with friends and relatives, find entertainment and more. In fact, Facebook, Amazon and YouTube have reportedly lowered the quality of video streaming in Europe to reduce the strain on Internet networks,[1] and companies like Netflix and Zoom have experienced dramatic growth.[2] In this context of expanding datafication of our health and every other aspect of our lives, the COVID-19 pandemic has stress tested not only our healthcare infrastructure but also the soundness of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) following its entry into force about two years ago. Two important trends can be discerned from this test. First, observance of the GDPR has overall impeded the deployment of excessively invasive contacttracing-based surveillance to contain the virus. Second, as we increase reliance on digital technologies during the pandemic, it becomes virtually impossible to prevent more aspects of our lives from being intensively monitored by both established big tech firms and a growing number of private actors. These two trends combined reveal a transparency and accountability gap between the public and the private sector which warrant innovative solutions to uphold our fundamental rights to privacy and protection of personal data.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Lessons from the GDPR in the COVID-19 era |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.20935/al429 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.20935/AL429 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Computer Science |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10132828 |
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