JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the deployment of digital technologies for public health surveillance globally. The rapid development and use of these technologies has curtailed opportunities to fully consider their potential impacts (e.g., for human rights, civil liberties, privacy, marginalization of vulnerable groups, etc.).

Objective:

We conducted a scoping review of the peer-reviewed and grey literature to identify the types and applications of digital technologies used for surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic and the predicted and witnessed consequences of digital surveillance.

Methods:

Our methodology was informed by the five-stage methodological framework to guide scoping reviews: identifying the research question, identifying relevant studies, study selection, charting the data, and collating, summarizing, and reporting the findings. We conducted a search of peer-reviewed and grey literature published between December 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020. We focused on the first year of the pandemic to provide a snapshot of questions, concerns, findings, and discussions emerging from the peer-reviewed and grey literature during this pivotal first year of the pandemic. Our review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) Protocols reporting guidelines.

Results:

We reviewed a total of 147 peer-reviewed and 79 grey literature publications. A total of 90 countries and regions were identified in which digital technologies were used for public health surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the most frequently used technologies included mobile phone applications, location tracking technologies, drones, temperature scanning technologies, and wearable devices. We found that authors raised concerns regarding the implications of digital surveillance in areas including: data security and privacy, function creep and mission creep, private sector involvement in surveillance, human rights, civil liberties, and impacts on marginalized groups. We also identified recommendations for ethical digital technology design and use including proportionality, transparency, purpose limitation, protecting privacy and security, and accountability.

Conclusions:

A wide range of digital technologies were used worldwide to support public health surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of our analysis highlight the importance of considering short- and long-term consequences of digital surveillance not only during the COVID-19 pandemic but also for future public health crises.