Public health surveillance has defined the “new normal” of Covid-19, raising thorny questions about the nature of individual privacy rights in our increasingly data-driven world. Around the world, pandemic response has exposed the dangers of short-sighted health data collection, including increased inequality and surveillance of marginalized communities. It has also complicated the balance between prioritizing community health and protecting individual liberties.
The latest report from the Social Science Research Council, Surveillance and the ‘New Normal’ of Covid-19: Public Health, Data, and Justice, offers insights from a cross-disciplinary, multinational group of more than 40 experts on the broader context of this historical moment for data ethics and shares strategies for building a more responsible social infrastructure.
The report includes insights from BKC community members Emma Day, Camille François, Urs Gasser, Hilary Ross, and Jonathan Zittrain, who are part of SSRC’s Public Health, Surveillance, and Human Rights Network.