Covid-19 Information Protection: Between Information Privacy, Health Secrecy and Public Safety

Abstract

To contribute meaningfully to the fight against disease outbreaks, the media should not just funnel predetermined health news to the audience. It should also play the vital role of convincing citizens to protect themselves and to shun rumors, misinformation and conspiracy theories that disfigure reality about infectious diseases. The present study examines alleged Covid-19 information concealment in Nigeria, which is thought to account for citizen uncooperativeness in the fight against the disease. It highlights the distinctions between data privacy and information secrecy. Using Spearman’s rank correlation, Chi-square and linear regression, we analyzed data from 183 statistically selected respondents from two states and the Federal Capital Territory in Nigeria. Data were also generated from qualitative survey of 12 health editors, two public affairs analysts and two government officials. Results indicate negative relationships between compliance with Covid-19 containment measures, citizen opinions on Covid-19 information protection and opinions on Covid-19 controversies. Data from qualitative survey suggest that government’s protection of information forces editors to report stories without “human face.” The study highlights the need for distinctions between physical privacy, information privacy and related concepts in the enforcement of health information privacy. This is to avoid sacrificing the public’s right to know in the guise of health information protection.