Due to necessary scheduled maintenance, the JMIR Publications website will be unavailable from Wednesday, July 01, 2020 at 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM EST. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause you.
Who will be affected?
Readers: No access to all 28 journals. We recommend accessing our articles via PubMed Central
Authors: No access to the submission form or your user account.
Reviewers: No access to your user account. Please download manuscripts you are reviewing for offline reading before Wednesday, July 01, 2020 at 7:00 PM.
Editors: No access to your user account to assign reviewers or make decisions.
Copyeditors: No access to user account. Please download manuscripts you are copyediting before Wednesday, July 01, 2020 at 7:00 PM.
Barriers to the Large-Scale Adoption of the COVID-19 Contact-Tracing App in Germany: Survey Study
Annelies G Blom;
Alexander Wenz;
Carina Cornesse;
Tobias Rettig;
Marina Fikel;
Sabine Friedel;
Katja Möhring;
Elias Naumann;
Maximiliane Reifenscheid;
Ulrich Krieger
ABSTRACT
Background:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, one way to reduce further transmissions of SARS-CoV-2 is the wide-spread use of contact-tracing apps. Such apps keep track of proximity contacts and warn contacts of cases that were tested positive for an infection.
Objective:
We analyze potential barriers to the large-scale adoption of the official contact-tracing app that was introduced in Germany on June 16, 2020.
Methods:
Survey data were collected from 3,276 adults during the week the app was introduced using an offline-recruited probability-based online panel of the general adult population in Germany.
Results:
We estimate that 81.3% of the population aged 18-77 possess the devices and ability to install the official app and 34.9% are also willing install and use it. Potential spreaders show high access (91.8%) and ability (90.7%) but low willingness (31.0%) of app adoption, whereas for vulnerable groups the main barrier is access (62.4%).
Conclusions:
We recommend targeting information campaigns at groups with a high potential to spread the virus to decrease their data privacy concerns that may fuel their low willingness to adopt the app. In addition, vulnerable groups may be provided with equipment and support to overcome their barriers to app adoption.
Citation
Please cite as:
Blom AG, Wenz A, Cornesse C, Rettig T, Fikel M, Friedel S, Möhring K, Naumann E, Reifenscheid M, Krieger U
Barriers to the Large-Scale Adoption of a COVID-19 Contact Tracing App in Germany: Survey Study