Automated decision-making systems and the fight against COVID-19

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages throughout the world, many are wondering whether and how to use automated decision-making systems (ADMS) to curb the outbreak. Different solutions are being proposed and implemented in different countries, ranging from authoritarian social control (China) to privacy-oriented, decentralized solutions (MIT’s ‘Safe Path’)

di Fabio Chiusi*, con la collaborazione di Nicolas Kayser-Bril

What follows is a set of possible principles and considerations on which to ground an informed, democratic and useful discussion regarding the use of ADMS in the current pandemic.

1. The COVID-19 is not a technological problem. Analyses of actual responses to the outbreak show that successful interventions are always grounded in broader public health policies. Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, frequently cited as role models in keeping the epidemic in check, all had plans in place, most of them designed after the 2003 SARS outbreak. Preparedness for an epidemic reaches beyond technical solutions: it means having resources, competences, plans, and the political legitimacy and the will to quickly deploy them when needed.
2. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to the COVID-19 outbreak. Success in the fight against the virus requires testing, contact tracing and confinement. However, no two contexts are identical. A country where the virus has been circulating undetected for months (e.g. Italy) is different from a country that identified carriers of the virus early on (e.g. South Korea). Social, political and cultural differences also matter when it comes to enforcing public health policies. This means that the same technological solution might yield very different results in such different contexts.
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4. Consequently, there is no need to rush into mass digital surveillance to fight the COVID-19 disease. It is not just a matter of privacy — although privacy remains a fundamental right and needs to be respected. Before considering the data protection implications of digital contact tracing apps, for example, we should ask: do they work, at all? Results from literature and past epidemics are currently mixed and depend heavily on context. Rights must be balanced with the expected benefits (saving lives). But there is no need to sacrifice our fundamental liberties if this serves no purpose.

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Fabio Chiusi* è docente a contratto all’Università di San Marino, scrive di policy-making tecnologico per Valigia Blu. Per AlgorithmWatch si occupa di politiche algoritmiche