COVID-19 Contact Tracing

Overview

Faced with one of the most unprecedented challenges of the 21st century, COVID-19 brought the world to a halt. Masks and contact tracing were two solutions that were explored to curb the spread of the virus. Due to the ever changing nature of the virus, contact tracing proved to be a way to keep tabs on the spread. Contact tracing, as described by the CDC, “ [I]s an effective disease control strategy that involves identifying cases and their contacts then working with them to interrupt disease transmission” (“Contact Tracing – CDC’s Role and Approach”). When done effectively, contact tracing can significantly slow the spread of COVID-19.

The Process

The process of contact tracing involves multiple steps involving the positive patient, contact tracers, and close contacts of the positive testing individual.

• ALL of this information is taken from the CDC website*

STEP1: First, the positive patient should

STEP 2:

STEP 3:

STEP 4:

Ethical Concern

Contact Tracing, however, is done differently around the world- some countries choose to respect individual privacy above all else, whereas some choose to prioritize the health of the community. Much of this controversy over privacy concerns stems from digitization. Although the concept of contact tracing has been around for many years, people worry that digitizing it will impede on their privacy. How might governments balance their citizens’ right to privacy with the need to protect community health? Various government systems have handled digital contact tracing differently. China, a socialist country, has drawn praise for its ability to slow the spread of the virus. China is successful because it is able to aggressively monitor its citizens due to its form of government. Alipay, a robust platform that has dominated the webspace in China, has proven to help streamline digital contact tracing. Alipay and company, Ant Financial, developed a way to determine the COVID risk of individuals by using data such as travel history and private encounters (Huang et al.). In a country where digital privacy is nearly nonexistent and personal data searches have sent citizens to prison, how reasonable is it for the government to completely bypass citizens’ privacy for the sake of health safety? On the other end of the spectrum is the United States where personal freedom, liberty, and privacy are constitutional rights. Here, digital contact tracing with limited privacy deems improbable. Despite cases topping over twelve million, there is no national digital contact tracing system in place. As a result, states such as North Dakota, Alabama, and South Carolina are handling matters at a state level with two private companies, Apple and Google. Using their technology, these states are developing apps with specific privacy measures such as limited data access and disabled GPS capability (Leswing). This is in sharp contrast to China’s aggressive digital contact tracing platform, which justifies limiting privacy for public health. Can the United States push the boundary of privacy, while still respecting the rights of citizens, in order to develop a successful system?

SOURCES: Contact Tracing – CDC’s Role and Approach, CDC, 13 Nov. 2020, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/php/contact-tracing-CDC-role-and-approach.pdf. Huang, Yasheng, et al. How Digital Contact Tracing Slowed Covid-19 in East Asia, Harvard Business Review, 14 Aug. 2020, hbr.org/2020/04/how-digital-contact-tracing-slowed-covid-19-in-east-asia. Leswing, Kif. “Three States Will Use Apple-Google Contact Tracing Technology for Virus Tracking Apps.”, CNBC, 20 May 2020, www.cnbc.com/2020/05/20/three-states-commit-to-apple-google-technology-for-virus-tracking-apps.html.