Right to privacy vs. public health concerns: This is becoming more of an issue during the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Are efforts to help understand and prevent spread of the disease overstepping individual privacy? 

Google and Facebook are now sharing location-tracking data with authorities around the globe. While the information is aggregated anonymously, it still provides movement tracking of individuals. This information is important for public health officials and others in planning and studying coronavirus. It can help with predicting spread of the disease from one location to another as well as with planning and preparing to manage an outbreak. Similar information is already used on Google Business Listings, e.g., inhouse traffic trends to show peak business periods.

Since most people with smartphones have their location tracker turned on, Google and Facebook can easily learn about people via their movements and send location-based info to them. While it’s possible to track individuals, so far both Google and Facebook have not been sharing that information for the time being. But the fact that individual information exists can be of concern.

Consider this: some countries in Asia are using smartphone location data to track COVID-19 positive individuals. Similar to an ankle monitor, if a quarantined person moves outside their home or turns off their phone, the authorities are notified. The person is quickly contacted or visited once the alert is triggered.

There is concern that once privacy boundaries are loosened in the name of public health, those boundaries will not be restored once the pandemic is over. Surveillance systems and platforms that were initiated in the wake of 9/11 are now commonplace and an apparently permanent part of everyday life. Do the ends justify the means?