Oscar Wilde was known for saying "Everything in moderation,
including moderation." For a period of time, we were only
confronted with the scary aspects of "Big Data." Think
The Great Hack and the testy congressional hearings that
we watched.
But the viral pandemic has thrown privacy absolutism into deeper
question, as we are suddenly faced with a problem that in order to
be solved must involve finding and tracking people for extended
periods of time. We need to decide how to balance the societal need
for virus control with the societal good of personal privacy.
Contact tracing is often used as an epidemic control measure.
Lawmakers have discussed using the tool in the U.S. as Apple and
Google work together to develop an effective contract tracing
system. It has been deployed against illnesses such as measles,
SARs, typhoid, meningococcal disease, and Ebola. It is currently being implemented in South Korea and
China to combat COVID-19.
