Thread by @AdaLovelaceInst

We're just about to kick off our webinar on the data governance of #ContactTracingApp. Discussing centralised/decentralised approaches and what they mean for the present and future of health and privacy.
We'll tweet some key points in this thread

adalovelaceinstitute.org/contact-tracin…

#COVID

We have three key questions to discuss on #ContactTracingApp, they focus on:
1- Efficacy of the Apps
2-Legal and Technical safeguards, policy instruments
3-Public Trust, you can't have public trust without guaranteed efficacy and safeguards

First up, @rossjanderson underlines that it is key to know what will happen to all the data after the emergency, also the data collected through conventional manual methods and it is concerning that we do not have the right legal safeguards in place.

Next @carmelatroncoso, as we are going to deploy a very invasive technology, it is important to have alternatives, such as #DP3T, that will not be exploited beyond the purpose of contact tracing: a system that does not produce data that can be repurposed and is easy to dismantle.

Further to that, both @carmelatroncoso and @rossjanderson stress that digital #ContactTracingApp are part of a bigger picture and are meant to *contribute* to the function of contact tracing. They are not the one and only solution and should not be discussed as such.

Next up, @BeterOpDeFiets insists that we are moving in experimental territory and don't know if apps will be effective, hence we need to ensure there is no collateral damage.

Apps should be voluntary, temporary and interoperable, to ensure that we can re-open borders, and they should use anonymised data.

Further to that, we need to recognize that when we digitise a function, which is usually done manually, we are scaling up that function and its effects: there is a risk of stigmatization and false-positives and we need for solutions to be accountable.

.@rossjanderson re-iterates that one of the most important things is being able to turn off the engine on data collection mechanisms.

We had a fascinating debate towards the end of the webinar, showing that many questions are still unanswered.

We will share notes from the discussion and links to papers and guidelines referenced soon.

As always, thanks to everybody who joined us and thanks to the speakers!

For those asking for a link to the eHealth Network Common EU Toolbox for Member States on mobile applications to support contact tracing in the EU's fight against COVID-19 that @BeterOpDeFiets mentioned in his talk, it's here: ec.europa.eu/health/sites/h…