Smart Pandemic Surveillance?: A Neo-Materialist Analysis of the “Monitora Covid-19” Application in Brazil

Abstract

This article discusses smart surveillance based on the particular case of the Brazilian mobile app Monitora Covid-19 from the perspective of issues related to personal-data protection. Brazil is today one of the epicenters of the pandemic. The application under analysis is the tip of a wide network of data monitoring and medical assistance formed by public and private institutions. Based on a neo-materialist analysis of this network, this article discusses the use of surveillance technologies and data during the period of the pandemic; describes and comments on visible, discursive, and hidden materialities; and indicates the main issues of the application in the use and protection of users’ personal data. In conclusion, it indicates some of the application’s flaws in relation to personal-data protection. More broadly, it reinforces the need for the creation of publicly controlled regulatory bodies for smart surveillance systems that are able to oversee the application of (public and private) technologies with ethical assurances and public control.