CITP Webinar: Ed Felten - COVID-19, Technology, Privacy and Civil Liberties

Many systems have been proposed for using technology to help individuals and public health officials better respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This talk will analyze the major proposed uses of information technology in the public health response to COVID-19, including aggregate reporting, contact tracing via direct proximity detection or location history matching, and creation of disease status passports. The public health value of these approaches will be considered along with their privacy and civil liberties implications. For several approaches, broad public acceptance is a prerequisite for success, making careful privacy and civil liberties protection an important contributor to public health goals.