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Where horizontal and vertical surveillances meet: Sense-making of US COVID-19 contact-tracing apps during a health crisis.

Where horizontal and vertical surveillances meet: Sense-making of US COVID-19 contact-tracing apps during a health crisis.

Authors :
Baik JS
Jang E
Source :
Mobile media & communication [Mob Media Commun] 2022 Sep; Vol. 10 (3), pp. 468-486.
Publication Year :
2022

Abstract

Analyzing user reviews of seven US digital contact-tracing apps for COVID-19, this article unpacks how the new form of surveillance technology is understood and experienced by individuals during a global health crisis. The findings suggest that the app users felt empowered via self-tracking capacity and expressed community-level care and concerns, including those regarding the marginalized. At the same time, the users were raising doubts over technical effectiveness, navigating varying levels of voluntary choice available, and negotiating privacy concerns depending on the (dis)trust they held of institutional entities behind the governance of the apps. We argue that it is critical to investigate how surveillance technologies are situated across horizontal and vertical relationships in people's everyday lives to fully understand the individual and societal acceptance and/or refusal of the very systems during crises.<br /> (© The Author(s) 2022.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2050-1579
Volume :
10
Issue :
3
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Mobile media & communication
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
38603128
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579221078674