Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021;23(3):569-578.
doi: 10.1007/s10676-020-09569-5. Epub 2020 Oct 20.

Corona pan(dem)ic: gateway to global surveillance

Affiliations

Corona pan(dem)ic: gateway to global surveillance

Regina Sibylle Surber. Ethics Inf Technol. 2021.

Abstract

The essay reviews the digital emergency measures many governments have adopted in an attempt to curb Covid-19. It argues that those 'virologically legitimized' measures may infringe the human right to privacy and mark the transition into a world of global surveillance. At this possible turning point in human history, panic and latent fear seem to fog much needed farsightedness. Leaving the current state of emotional paralysis and restarting to critically assess the digital pandemic management can serve as an emergency break against drifting into a new era of digital monitoring.

Keywords: Corona; Covid-19; Digital technologies; Ethics; Human rights; Pandemic; Surveillance.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestThe author declare that he has no conflict of interest.

References

    1. AFP (2020a). Ethiopia vows to end communications blackout as virus cases rise. The Guardian. 31 March 2020. https://guardian.ng/news/ethiopia-vows-to-end-communications-blackout-as.... Accessed 30 July 2020.
    1. AFP (2020b). Italy declares state of emergency over coronavirus. France 24. 31 January 2020. https://www.france24.com/en/20200131-italy-declares-state-of-emergency-o.... Accessed 2 April 2020.
    1. Al Jazeera (2020a). Egypt targets Guardian, NYT journalists over coronavirus reports. Al Jazeera. 18 March 2020. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/egypt-targets-guardian-nyt-journa.... Accessed 2 April 2020.
    1. Al Jazeera (2020b). Internet blackout in Myanmar’s Rakhine enters its second year. Al Jazeera. 21 June 2020. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/06/internet-blackout-myanmar-rakhine.... Accessed 30 July 2020.
    1. Al Monitor (2020). Dubai police test using surveillance cameras to detect coronavirus. Al Monitor. 19 May 2020. https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/05/dubai-cctv-coronaviru.... Accessed 30 July 2020.

LinkOut - more resources