Abstract
Digital tracing technologies are heralded as an effective way of containing SARS-CoV-2 faster than it is spreading, thereby allowing the possibility of easing draconic measures of population-wide quarantine. But existing technological proposals risk addressing the wrong problem. The proper objective is not solely to maximise the ratio of people freed from quarantine but to also ensure that the composition of the freed group is fair. We identify several factors that pose a risk for fair group composition along with an analysis of general lessons for a philosophy of technology. Policymakers, epidemiologists, and developers can use these risk factors to benchmark proposal technologies, curb the pandemic, and keep public trust.
Highlights
The case for digital contact tracingThis section introduces key epidemiological terms, makes precise the problems that need solving, and clarifies the kind of digital tracing in question
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has forced almost a third of the world’s population into some form of quarantine (Kaplan et al 2020), causing severe rights-restrictions, as well as drastic economic, social, and psychological harms
We argue in this article that, despite its intuitive appeal, digital tracing risks addressing the wrong problem, and in consequence, its employment raises pressing and hitherto unacknowledged concerns about fairness
Summary
This section introduces key epidemiological terms, makes precise the problems that need solving, and clarifies the kind of digital tracing in question. Apart from introducing the normatively salient points of the debate and providing valuable entry points for subsequent ethical discussions related to SARS-CoV-2, we demonstrate and motivate the relevance of fairness in adopting digital tracing as a response to SARS-CoV-2
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