Ethical Framework for Assessing Manual and Digital Contact Tracing for COVID-19

Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has challenged the traditional public health balance between benefiting the good of the community through contact tracing and restricting individual liberty. This article first analyzes important technical and ethical issues regarding new sma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of Internal Medicine 2021-03
Main Authors: Lo, Bernard, Sim, Ida
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has challenged the traditional public health balance between benefiting the good of the community through contact tracing and restricting individual liberty. This article first analyzes important technical and ethical issues regarding new smartphone apps that facilitate contact tracing and exposure notification. It then presents a framework for assessing contact tracing, whether manual or digital: the effectiveness at mitigating the pandemic; acceptability of risks, particularly privacy; and equitable distribution of benefits and risks. Both manual and digital contact tracing require public trust, engagement of minority communities, prompt COVID-19 testing and return of results, and high adherence with physical distancing and use of masks.
DOI:10.7326/M20-5834