How do people prefer coronavirus contact tracing to be carried out?


Date:
September 10, 2020
Source:
University of Exeter
Summary:
New research shows that people prefer coronavirus contact tracing
to be carried out by a combination of apps and humans.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== People prefer coronavirus contact tracing to be carried out by a
combination of apps and humans, a new study shows.


==========================================================================
The research shows people are more concerned about who runs the process
than the risks of others having unauthorised access to their private information, or their data being stolen.

Most people who took part in the research were in favour of the
NHS processing personal data rather than the Government or even a
decentralised system that stores only minimal personal data.

A total of 41 per cent of those questioned wanted a mixture of an app
and human contact during the tracing process, compared to 22 per cent
who wanted it purely to be run via contact with another person and 37
per cent who wanted the process to only be digital.

The research was conducted by Laszlo Horvath, Susan Banducci and Oliver
James from the University of Exeter during May and is published in the
Journal of Experimental Political Science.

They ran an experiment on 1,504 people who were given information about
two apps though a series of five pairings, with their properties relating
to privacy and data security displayed randomly, and asked which they
would prefer to use. In a second study, the academics also surveyed 809
people about their preferences for how apps should be run and designed.

The decentralised system of contact tracing, currently trialled in the
UK, was chosen by participants with a 50 per cent probability, meaning
this particular design didn't influence people's choice. However the probability of people choosing the app designed to work as part of a
NHS-led centralised system was 57 per cent, meaning it was more popular,
while 43 per cent of apps chosen were described as having data which
would be stored on servers belonging to the UK government, making them
less popular.

A randomly selected group of people were also informed about the risk
of data breach issues, but this didn't have an impact on people's
preferences.

Dr Horvath said: "We had thought people would prefer apps which were less intrusive and protected their privacy, for example not needing as much information about their location, but this wasn't the case. Our research
shows people are supportive of taking part in the contact tracing process
if needed.

They are less concerned about the possibility of data breach problems
than who their app is run by, and privacy didn't affect their preferences
when they had a choice of apps." Professor Banducci said: "Our research
shows people are supportive of the NHS storing and using their personal information. Faith and trust in the NHS is high at the moment so it
may motivate people to take part in the process if the Government
involves the health service in its development and deployment. Trust
in the provider of contact tracing will be crucial if it is to be used successfully to reduce the spread of infection." Professor James said:
"People who took part in this research preferred a balanced -- human
plus digital -- approach to contract tracing. Privacy concerns were
not as influential as we expected. Trust in the provider of the app is currently more important, something for the Government to remember as
work on the UK's contact tracing system continues."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Exeter. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Laszlo Horvath, Susan Banducci, Oliver James. Citizens' Attitudes to
Contact Tracing Apps. Journal of Experimental Political Science,
2020; 1 DOI: 10.1017/XPS.2020.30 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200910110832.htm

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