Ethical Guidelines for COVID-19 Digital Tracking and Tracing

We’re happy to share another event with you, with Jess Morley (https://twitter.com/jessRmorley) from the OII Digital Ethics Lab to discuss an ethical framework for digital tracking and tracing systems.

Click here to read a whitepaper Jess is working on discussing the topic >> https://www.academia.edu/42820350/Ethical_Guidelines_for_SARS-CoV-2_Digital_Tracking_and_Tracing_Systems

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The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has seen global governments rapidly designing, developing and releasing contact tracing applications, using Bluetooth and other wireless technologies to trace the spread of the virus and notify people when they have potentially been in contact with it so that they can self-isolate, protect others in society and health services.

Digital contact tracing, however, is not free from ethical risks. The tracking and tracing of individual citizens represents a significant infringement on our data privacy, which must be balanced against the potential benefit of making our society safer in this time.

Currently a global debate is weighing up the merits of different designs. Apps may rely on centralised or decentralised systems; may be mandatory or voluntary; and may ask users to self-report their symptoms or rely on formal diagnostic testing. Each design has different ethical implications. Furthermore, differences in design will likely affect social acceptability and consequential uptake which could, in turn, affect the effectiveness.

In light of the pandemic, this event will, of course, be hosted online. As a community, we will try to ensure all our future events are joinable online, even after social distancing restrictions are lifted, to make our events as accessible as possible, and allow you to make your own decisions about personal safety.

**Still figuring out the best method to host online conferences! The URL will be updated ASAP! **