Privacy concerns can explain unwillingness to download and use contact tracing apps when COVID-19 concerns are high
| Autor: | Najam U. Saqib, Eugene Y. Chan |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
medicine.medical_specialty
2019-20 coronavirus outbreak Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Download Internet privacy 050801 communication & media studies Health records 0508 media and communications Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) Full Length Article Pandemic medicine Disease concerns General Psychology business.industry Public health Contact tracing apps 05 social sciences 050301 education COVID-19 Human-Computer Interaction Privacy Mediation Business 0503 education Contact tracing |
| Zdroj: | Computers in Human Behavior |
| ISSN: | 0747-5632 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.chb.2021.106718 |
| Popis: | Governments around the world have increasingly relied on technology to promote public health, such as using electronic health records and portable fitness devices. During the COVID-19 pandemic, “contact tracing apps” for smartphones have also been promoted in many countries as a way to allow public officials to facilitate contact tracing. But uptake in virtually all countries where such apps have been promoted is slow, one reason being privacy concerns. Conducting three experiments across France (n = 471), Australia (n = 202), and the United States (n = 1005), we explore if salient COVID-19 concerns, which intuitively should increase concerns about personal and public health, might in fact increase privacy concerns and thereby reduce uptake of contact tracing apps. Using an experimental design where we randomly assign participants to either a disease concerns or control condition, we find that salient COVID-19 concerns decrease intentions to download contact tracing apps. Mediation results reveal that greater valuations of privacy explain the lower willingness. We therefore explain why COVID-19 contact tracing apps that are promoted when the pandemic is at its peak see low levels of uptake. Our results provide policy makers with implications concerning how to promote uptake to help “flatten the curve” of not just the current pandemic but potentially also future ones. Highlights • Contact tracings app can “flatten the curve” but there are privacy concerns. • Disease concerns may heighten privacy concerns. • Thus, disease concerns may explain why tracing app uptake is slow. • Three experiments in France, Australia, and the United States tested our hypotheses. • Explanatory mediators included social conservatism and greater privacy concerns. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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