Ethics of digital contact tracing and COVID-19: who is (not) free to go?
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 10, 2025

Methodology for Establishing a Community-Wide Life Laboratory for Capturing Unobtrusive and Continuous Remote Activity and Health Data
Published on: July 27, 2018
1Institute for Business Ethics, St Gallen, Switzerland & Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands.
Abstract:
Digital tracing technologies are heralded as an effective way of containing SARS-CoV-2 faster than it is spreading, thereby allowing the possibility of easing draconic measures of population-wide quarantine. But existing technological proposals risk addressing the wrong problem. The proper objective is not solely to maximise the ratio of people freed from quarantine but to also ensure that the composition of the freed group is fair. We identify several factors that pose a risk for fair group composition along with an analysis of general lessons for a philosophy of technology. Policymakers, epidemiologists, and developers can use these risk factors to benchmark proposal technologies, curb the pandemic, and keep public trust.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Ethics and Bioethics
Ethical Issues
Ethical Concerns in Healthcare:
Ethics in Research
Ethical Dilemmas I
Let us explore some examples to understand the potentially complex moral decisions nurses face.
Take the case of caring for minors, particularly in areas related to reproductive...
Ethical Dilemmas II
Social Foundations of Self IV: Self in Digital Communication

