With the Coronavirus pandemic recently becoming a huge issue, there have been many efforts to help the people in need and the people who are afraid. Many people are now afraid of contracting the disease and they do not know if they have the virus or not. Recently there have been developments in how technology and software, specifically apps, can help people have a better understanding of COVID-19 and if they should seek medical help. Emerging technologies are a variety of technologies such as educational technology, information technology, nanotechnology, biotechnology, cognitive science, psychotechnology, robotics, and artificial intelligence. However with these varieties of technologies there are also many ethics that come along with it. There are a few ethical considerations when it comes to technologies, these are: informed consent, voluntary participation, do no harm, confidentiality, anonymity and only assess relevant components. All ethical considerations are built around these guidelines.
Informed Concent – means that the person participating in the evaluation is fully informed about the evaluation being conducted. Users must be made aware of the purpose of the evaluation, who is funding it, how it will be used and who will have access to the it
Voluntary Participation – means that people participate in the evaluation voluntarily and not be force. People are free to withdraw their participation. It is the right of participants to leave a program at any time, therefore no pressure should be placed on those who choose to withdraw.
Do no harm – Both physical and psychological harm are prohibited. It can be in the form of: stress, pain, anxiety, diminishing self-esteem or invasion of privacy.
Confidentiality – means that any information that could identify someone is not made available to, or accessed by anyone but the program’s coordinator. It is very important to consider how reports are worded to ensure that there is no opportunity for people to be identified even if names are not used.
Anonymity – It is a stricter form of confidentiality, as the identity of the participant remains unknown to the research team. It is more difficult to achieve than confidentiality because participants are usually known to the program coordinator.
Only assess relevant components – makes sure that the program only analyses the information that is relevant to the purpose of the evaluation. It is important to keep evaluations as simple as possible and to remain focused on the intention of the evaluation and what the data gathered will be used for.
COVIDSAFE APP’s ETHICS
“The COVIDSafe app speeds up contacting people exposed to coronavirus (COVID-19). This helps us support and protect you, your friends and family.” – https://www.health.gov.au/resources/apps-and-tools/covidsafe-app.
Although the app has good intentions, the ethics behind the app will be explored in this post.
Informed Consent – The users of the app will be informed of the purposes of the evaluation, how it will be used and who will have access to it. More information is provided online.
Voluntary Participation – The app is completely voluntary and is only used to protect you, your loved ones and the lives of other Australians
Do no harm – The app may cause psychological harm if the user is found to have COVID-19 through the app, however the app itself does not inflict physical or psychological on purpose.
Confidentiality – Personal information will be used to enable contact tracing by health officials. They will not use or disclose personal information for any other purpose.
Anonymity – Does not input anonymity, health officials and authorised officials will be able to see the contact and personal information of the users.
Only assess relevant components – The only details collected are: mobile phone number – so that people can be contacted if needed, name – so the relevant health officials can conform they are speaking to the right person when performing contact tracing, age range – so health officials can prioritise cases for contact tracing, and postcode – to make sure health officials from the right state or territory who work in the area can contact you.
I think that the COVIDSafe app is a great idea for the many people who are afraid of the virus. I myself would not use the app as I personally am not afraid of the virus. However people who want ot be cautious should download the app, especially if it is made by trusted officials from the government. I do not think it is required for high school students to download and use the app but if they think they need it they are welcome to use it, it will not be bad and suspicious. I do recommend that older people use, especially to be informed of the matter and because they are out more frequently than students, especially during this time.
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