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COVID-19, policy change, and post-pandemic data governance: a case analysis of contact tracing applications in East Asia
[A survey of COVID-19 contact tracing apps]

Author

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  • Veronica Q T Li
  • Liang Ma
  • Xun Wu

Abstract

In an era of digitalization, governments often turn to digital solutions for pressing policy issues, and the use of digital contact tracing and quarantine enforcement for COVID-19 is no exception. The long-term impacts of the digital solutions, however, cannot be taken for granted. The development and use of data tools for pandemic control, for example, may have potentially detrimental and irreversible impacts on data governance and, more broadly, society, in the long run. In this paper, we aim to explore the extent to which COVID-19 and digital contact tracing have led to policy change in data governance, if at all, and what the implications of such change would be for a post-COVID world. We compare the use of contact tracing and monitoring applications across mainland China, Hong Kong, and Singapore to illustrate both the enormous benefits and potential risks arising from the design of contact tracing applications and the involvement of stakeholders in the various stages of the policy cycle to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that, while COVID-19 has not changed the nature of issues, such as public trust in data governance, the increasing involvement of big tech in data policies, and data privacy risks, it has exacerbated those issues through the accelerated adoption of data technologies.

Suggested Citation

  • Veronica Q T Li & Liang Ma & Xun Wu, 2022. "COVID-19, policy change, and post-pandemic data governance: a case analysis of contact tracing applications in East Asia [A survey of COVID-19 contact tracing apps]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 41(1), pages 129-142.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:polsoc:v:41:y:2022:i:1:p:129-142.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/polsoc/puab019
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fahey, Robert A. & Hino, Airo, 2020. "COVID-19, digital privacy, and the social limits on data-focused public health responses," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    2. John Hogan & Michael Howlett & Mary Murphy, 2022. "Re-thinking the coronavirus pandemic as a policy punctuation: COVID-19 as a path-clearing policy accelerator [Punctuating the equilibrium: An application of policy theory to COVID-19]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 41(1), pages 40-52.
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    Cited by:

    1. Howell, Bronwyn E. & Potgieter, Petrus H., 2022. "Smartphone-Based COVID-19 contact tracing apps – antipodean insights," 31st European Regional ITS Conference, Gothenburg 2022: Reining in Digital Platforms? Challenging monopolies, promoting competition and developing regulatory regimes 265635, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).

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