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Coronavirus pandemic
TechPolicy

European scientists warn coronavirus contact tracing apps could result in mission creep, surveillance

  • Scientists and researchers from more than 25 countries are urging governments not to abuse contract tracing technology to spy on their people
  • A German-led initiative has been criticised for being too centralised and thus prone to governmental mission creep

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\A handout photo made available by German Armed Forces Bundeswehr shows soldiers during a test of a smart phone app using Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT) at the Julius Leber Barracks in Berlin, Germany, 01 April 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE
Reuters
A rift has opened up over the design of smartphone apps to trace people in Europe at risk of coronavirus infection, potentially hindering efforts to curb the pandemic and ease crippling travel restrictions.

Scientists and researchers from more than 25 countries published an open letter on Monday urging governments not to abuse such technology to spy on their people and warning of risks in an approach championed by Germany.

“We are concerned that some ‘solutions’ to the crisis may, via mission creep, result in systems which would allow unprecedented surveillance of society at large,” said the letter that gathered more than 300 signatures.

Tech experts are rushing to develop digital methods to fight Covid-19, a flu-like disease caused by the novel coronavirus that has infected 2.4 million people worldwide and been linked to 169,000 deaths.

  

Automating the assessment of who is at risk and telling them to see a doctor, get tested or self-isolate, is seen by advocates as a way to speed up a task that typically entails phone calls and house calls.

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