A soldier of the Swiss army wearing a protective face mask holds a smartphone with an app using Decentralized Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (DP-3T) during a test with 100 soldiers in the military compound of Chamblon near Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, Thursday, April 30, 2020. The race by governments to develop mobile tracing apps in order to contain infections after lockdowns ease is focusing attention on privacy. The debate is especially urgent in Europe, where academics and civil liberties activists are pushing for solutions that protect personal data. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via APAs governments around the world consider how to monitor new coronavirus outbreaks while reopening their societies, many are starting to bet on smartphone apps to help stanch the pandemic.
But their decisions on which technologies to use — and how far those allow authorities to peer into private lives — are highlighting some uncomfortable trade-offs between protecting privacy and public health.
“There are conflicting interests,” said Tina White, a Stanford University researcher who first introduced a privacy-protecting approach in February. “Governments and public health (agencies) want to be able to track people” to minimize the spread of COVID-19, but people are less likely to download a voluntary app if it is intrusive, she said.
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