“A rapid evidence review of the technical considerations and societal implications of using technology to transition from the COVID-19 crisis” by the Ada Lovelace Institute: “The review focuses on three technologies in particular: digital contact tracing, symptom tracking apps and immunity certification. It makes pragmatic recommendations to support well-informed policymaking in response to the crisis. It is informed by the input of more than twenty experts drawn from across a wide range of domains, including technology, policy, human rights and data protection, public health and clinical medicine, behavioural science and information systems, philosophy, sociology and anthropology.
The purpose of this review is to open up, rather than close down, an informed and public dialogue on the technical considerations and societal implications of the use of technology to transition from the crisis.
Key findings
There is an absence of evidence to support the immediate national deployment of symptom tracking applications, digital contact tracing applications and digital immunity certificates. While the Government is right to explore non-clinical measures for transition, for national policy to rely on these apps, they would need to be able to:
- Represent accurate information about infection or immunity
- Demonstrate technical capabilities to support required functions
- Address various practical issues for use, including meeting legal tests
- Mitigate social risks and protect against exacerbating inequalities and vulnerabilities
At present the evidence does not demonstrate that tools are able to address these four components adequately. We offer detailed evidence, and recommendations for each application in the report summary.
In particular, we recommend that:
- Effective deployment of technology to support the transition from the crisis will be contingent on public trust and confidence, which can be strengthened through the establishment of two accountability mechanisms:
- the Group of Advisors on Technology in Emergencies (GATE) to review evidence, advise on design and oversee implementation, similar to the expert group recently established by Canada’s Chief Science Adviser; and
- an independent oversight mechanism to conduct real-time scrutiny of policy formulation.
- Clear and comprehensive primary legislation should be advanced to regulate data processing in symptom tracking and digital contact tracing applications. Legislation should impose strict purpose, access and time limitations…(More)”.