An investigation of media reports of digital surveillance within the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic

Frontiers in Digital Health

Digital Health

Leigha Comer¹  Marionette Ngole¹  Brad Hiebert¹  Lorie Donelle²  Saverio Stranges³  Jason Gilliland⁴  Jed Long⁴  James M. Shelley⁵  Jacquelyn Burkell⁶  Maxwell Smith⁷  Anita Kothari⁷  Jodi Hall⁸  Tommy Cooke⁹  Jacob J. Shelley^1,10 

[1] Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western University, London, ON, Canada;Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western University, London, ON, Canada;College of Nursing, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, United States;Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada;Departments of Family Medicine and Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada;The Africa Institute, Western University, London, ON, Canada;Department of Precision Health, Luxembourg Institute of Health, Strassen, Luxembourg;Department of Geography and Environment, Western University, London, ON, Canada;Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, London, ON, Canada;Faculty of Information and Media Studies, Western University, London, ON, Canada;School of Health Studies, Western University, London, ON, Canada;School of Nursing, Fanshawe College, London, ON, Canada;Surveillance Studies Centre, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada;Western Law, Western University, London, ON, Canada;

关键词: COVID-19;    pandemic;    digital surveillance;    digital health;    public health;    technology;    mass media;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fdgth.2023.1215685

 received in 2023-05-02, accepted in 2023-07-10,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic prompted a surge in digital public health surveillance worldwide, with limited opportunities to consider the effectiveness or impact of digital surveillance. The news media shape public understanding of topics of importance, contributing to our perception of priority issues. This study investigated news media reports published during the first year of the pandemic to understand how the use and consequences of digital surveillance technologies were reported on.MethodsA media content analysis of 34 high- to low-income countries was completed. The terms “COVID-19,” “surveillance,” “technologies,” and “public health” were used to retrieve and inductively code media reports.ResultsOf the 1,001 reports, most were web-based or newspaper sources on the development and deployment of technologies directed at contact tracing, enforcing quarantine, predicting disease spread, and allocating resources. Technology types included mobile apps, wearable devices, “smart” thermometers, GPS/Bluetooth, facial recognition, and security cameras. Repurposed data from social media, travel cards/passports, and consumer purchases also provided surveillance insight. Media reports focused on factors impacting surveillance success (public participation and data validity) and the emerging consequences of digital surveillance on human rights, function creep, data security, and trust.DiscussionDiverse digital technologies were developed and used for public health surveillance during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of these technologies and witnessed or anticipated consequences were reported by a variety of media sources worldwide. The news media are an important public health information resource, as media outlets contribute to directing public understanding and shaping priority public health surveillance issues. Our findings raise important questions around how journalists decide which aspects of public health crises to report on and how these issues are discussed.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© 2023 Comer, Donelle, Ngole, Shelley, Kothari, Smith, Shelley, Stranges, Hiebert, Gilliland, Burkell, Cooke, Hall and Long.