Giving Up Privacy For Security: A Survey On Privacy Trade-off During Pandemic Emergency (2007.04109v1)

Abstract: While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be as complex as ever, the collection and exchange of data in the light of fighting coronavirus poses a major challenge for privacy systems around the globe. The disease's size and magnitude is not uncommon but it appears to be at the point of hysteria surrounding it. Consequently, in a very short time, extreme measures for dealing with the situation appear to have become the norm. Any such actions affect the privacy of individuals in particular. For some cases, there is intensive monitoring of the whole population while the medical data of those diagnosed with the virus is commonly circulated through institutions and nations. This may well be in the interest of saving the world from a deadly disease, but is it really appropriate and right? Although creative solutions have been implemented in many countries to address the issue, proponents of privacy are concerned that technologies will eventually erode privacy, while regulators and privacy supporters are worried about what kind of impact this could bring. While that tension has always been present, privacy has been thrown into sharp relief by the sheer urgency of containing an exponentially spreading virus. The essence of this dilemma indicates that establishing the right equilibrium will be the best solution. The jurisprudence concerning cases regarding the willingness of public officials to interfere with the constitutional right to privacy in the interests of national security or public health has repeatedly proven that a reasonable balance can be reached.