Privacy Governance in Contact Tracing Apps: A Comparative International Study

Contact tracing apps have been pervasive throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, despite evidence of their ineffectiveness and broad opposition. Building on a recent study of disaster apps (Sanfilippo, et al., 2020), this paper empirically explores global and contextual privacy issues around contact tracing apps, comparing internationally. In a major contrast with disaster apps, there are significant objections to the potential for misuse prior to data collection or use of the app by broad populations. We discuss the extent to which governance applies to all parameters of information flows, not just a small subset of actors and information types, and the impact of national norms and contexts on patterns of practices. We compare regulatory expectations and practices under emergency circumstances, to better understand contextual privacy issues and meet user expectations during future crises.