Governments are increasingly using digital technologies and big data analytics to address the Covid-19 pandemic. At this stage of the pandemic, these technologies may not deliver their promise and will further entrench surveillance in our societies and erode the rule of law. BKC fellow Beatriz Botero Arcila argues that it doesn’t need to be that way.
“There is a good chance this will be a long, bumpy ride,” writes Arcila. “Yet now is the time to think about what we might want to change for when we go back, slowly, to our daily lives, and of course, what the role of technology in that future should be. It doesn’t need to be an enhanced surveillance future.”