Improving on and assessing ethical guidelines for digital tracking and tracing systems for pandemics
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SHORT COMMUNICATION
Improving on and assessing ethical guidelines for digital tracking and tracing systems for pandemics Björn Lundgren1,2,3
© The Author(s) 2020
Abstract So-called digital tracking and tracing systems (DTTSs) have been proposed as a means to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2. There are ethical guidelines and evaluations of such systems available. As part of a research project, I will build on and critically evaluate the foundations of such guidelines. The goal is to provide both incremental improvements of the specific requirements for DTTSs and to present and discuss more fundamental challenge, the risk for indirect effects and slippery slopes. The nature of slippery slopes makes ethical guidelines more difficult since it requires a more complex analysis than, for example, using a checklist allows for. Keywords SARS-CoV-2 · COVID-19 · Pandemic · Guidelines · Data protection · Privacy
Introduction After first being officially reported in December 2019, the virus SARS-CoV-2 spread within months through the world, infecting millions of people with COVID-19. At the time of writing, scientists around the world are researching and testing cures, vaccines, and improved tools for tracking, tracing, and containing the virus. All these endeavors are necessary to save lives and to re-open the global economy as well as local societies; but none of them is without ethical challenges. This research statement concerns the analyses of the ethical challenges of digital tracking and tracing systems (DTTSs), by which I broadly mean any digital application or device readily usable for viral exposure (or contact) tracing and/or notification. Unlike vaccines and cures, many DTTSs are already fully available—while others are being developed—and the ethical evaluation and guidelines have been prompt (see, e.g., Howell O’Neill et al. 2020; Morley et al. 2020; Raskar et al. * Björn Lundgren [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] 1
Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
2
Institute for Futures Studies, Stockholm, Sweden
3
Department of Philosophy, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
2020). An indispensable quality of ethical guidelines for DTTSs is its usability. Specifically, guidelines should propose clear and easily understandable requirements, which can be assessed by non-experts. In this regard Morley et al. offers an excellent approach with its simple bivalent checklist criteria. Yet, there is room for improvement. In this research statement I will present a sketch of improvements of their individual requirements, but I will also present an embryo of a more serious challenge to ethical guidelines for DTTSs.
Preliminary assessment Morley at el.’s check-list contains two sections. The first section concerns basic permissibility of using a DTTS (what they call “go/no-go”) and contains four main questions: whether the solution is necessary, proportionate, scientifically sound (including whether it will be
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