COVID-19 and privacy: a European dilemma

Purpose This paper aims at discussing the options available to governments when it comes to the use of technology to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Design/methodology/approach This is an opinion piece, based on very recent developments (COVID-19), and based on a well-known trade-off between privacy and state surveillance, especially in times of crisis that threaten the survival of a nation. Findings The main finding is that technology alone will not help, and there are several reasons to doubt that the recently proposed European system to track the contagion in a privacy-preserving way (pan-European privacy preserving proximity tracing [PEPP-PT]) would be a fully effective solution. Research limitations/implications This is a short paper, which is very dependent on current developments. It was written in a very short time, so the level of depth in the references to the literature and the caselaw is limited. The main implication is that this paper is very far from the final word in the analysis of the interplay between technology and society, especially in democratic countries. Practical implications There is a need to ensure that the temporary measures that will be adopted during the pandemic do not extend to the post-COVID-19 period. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is a very fresh debate; the paper is thus original and proposes one of the first structured comments to the PEPP-PT and DP-3T conceptual designs.