Tolerance of Cellphone Monitoring: Washington Post

In a few months, tens of millions of people around the world in at least 27 countries went under surveillance from governments, private companies and researchers without consent in order to trace the spread and contain the Covid-19 virus. Some people tolerate surveillance, agreeing that such measures are necessary to avoid a nationwide lockdown. However, the measures provoke debate in Europe and the United States, after some citizens voluntarily downloaded tracking apps. One critical issue is whether smartphone apps can yield reliable information about the disease’s spread. The utility of such apps is limited if downloads are few or smartphone ownership is low in some communities. South Korea, which successfully battled the virus, did not impose a nationwide lockdown and instead issued advisories against nonessential travel. South Korea also tracked people’s movements and published patient travel histories without names to inform the public about neighborhoods. – YaleGlobal