Privacy and security concerns with passively collected location data for digital contact tracing among U.S. college students

People continue to use technology in new ways, and how governments harness digital information should consider privacy and security concerns. During COVID19, numerous countries deployed digital contact tracing that collect location data from user's smartphones. However, these apps had low adopt...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2023-11, Vol.18 (11), p.e0294419-e0294419
Main Authors: Belligoni, Sara, Stevens, Kelly A, Hasan, Samiul, Yu, Haofei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
College students
Contact tracing
Disease transmission
Evaluation
Health aspects
Local government
Privacy
Smart phones
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Summary:People continue to use technology in new ways, and how governments harness digital information should consider privacy and security concerns. During COVID19, numerous countries deployed digital contact tracing that collect location data from user's smartphones. However, these apps had low adoption rates and faced opposition. We launched an interdisciplinary study to evaluate smartphone location data concerns among college students in the US. Using interviews and a large survey, we find that college students have higher concerns regarding privacy, and place greater trust in local government with their location data. We discuss policy recommendations for implementing improved contact tracing efforts.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0294419