Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Nov 5, 2020
Open Peer Review Period: Nov 4, 2020 - Dec 30, 2020
Date Accepted: Jan 9, 2021
Date Submitted to PubMed: Jan 27, 2021
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Early Perceptions of COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps in German-speaking Countries: A Comparative Mixed Methods Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
In Germany, Austria and Switzerland Bluetooth-based contact tracing apps have been rolled out to assist the authorities’ COVID-19 containment strategies. While the Austrian app was launched early on in March 2020, Swiss and German apps were both launched in June 2020. Uptake rates have been lower than originally expected.
Objective:
This study set out to explore: (1) how people living in Germany, Austria, and the German-speaking part of Switzerland conceptualize and evaluate digital contact tracing apps during the first pandemic wave; (2) how such applications were framed in newspapers and whether differences existed between countries; and (3) how people’s concepts and assessments intersected with public discussions.
Methods:
Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 110 participants as part of the SolPan consortium. Newspaper coverage about contact tracing apps in the German-speaking area was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively.
Results:
We found that interview participants and newspaper coverage in all countries conceptualized contact tracing apps as governmental surveillance tools and embedded them in a broader context of technological surveillance. Participants identified trust in authorities, respecting individual privacy, voluntariness and temporary use of contact tracing apps as prerequisites for democratic compatibility. Newspaper coverage reinforced these concepts and reacted to policy discussions and updates on app development. App developers and researchers featured more prominently in Swiss and German newspaper coverage than in Austria.
Conclusions:
Non-use of digital contact tracing apps might be due to expectations of privacy risks that are not compensated for by potential benefits and that are rooted in a deeper skepticism towards digital tools. When authorities plan on implementing new digital tools and practices in the future, they should be very transparent and proactive in communicating the objectives, the contribution of the technology and how it differs from other, possibly similar, tools. It is also important to publicly address and solve ethical, legal and social issues related to such technologies prior to their launch.
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Copyright
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