Nationwide Adoption of a Digital Contact Tracing App: Examining the Role of Privacy Concern, Political Trust, and Technology Literacy

ABSTRACT Digital contact tracing (DCT) has become an efficient method for authorities to curb COVID-19. However, the current public opinion studies on the adoption of DCT primarily focus on Western countries and rarely explore citizen attitudes in Asian contexts where DCT is often mandatory. Moreover, the existing literature extensively explores how privacy concern negates the adoption of DCT without illuminating the solutions to such barriers. To unveil the mechanisms of DCT adoption, this study explores how Singaporeans’ privacy concern, political trust, and technology literacy can influence their attitudes toward TraceTogether (a local DCT program). An analysis of survey data suggests that privacy concern is positively associated with negative attitudes toward DCT. Those with high levels of political distrust also hold negative attitudes toward DCT. Political distrust is also found to positively mediate the relationship between privacy concerns and negative attitudes toward DCT. Finally, moderated mediation findings suggest that the indirect effects of privacy concern on negative attitudes toward DCT via political distrust increase with an increase in technological literacy. Simply put, the indirect effects are stronger for those with higher-tech literacy. We discuss the tension between privacy concerns and public health during the pandemic and propose policy suggestions.