Bridging Privacy and Solidarity in COVID-19 Contact-tracing Apps through the Sociotechnical Systems Perspective

Glimpse ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-54
Author(s):  
Olya Kudina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Individual Values ◽  
Sociotechnical System ◽  
Moral Uncertainty ◽  
Systems Perspective ◽  
Public Health Organizations ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Institutional Embedding

The COVID-19 pandemic confronts people with moral uncertainty, where they balance daily the individual values, rights, and needs with the collective perspective. COVID-19 contact-tracing apps offer digital media to correlate the movement of people with COVID-19 cases with the help of integrated date from public health organizations. This helps to notify people when they come in proximity with carriers of the disease. Regardless of the differences in the technical setup and manner of introduction globally, the values of privacy and solidarity are often pitted against each other when discussing COVID-19 apps. In this paper, I reframe the COVID-19 tracking apps from being neither a messiah nor a destroyer of pandemic management, but as a localized and complex sociotechnical system helping to shape and qualify moral concerns. This will allow to not only expand the scope of discussion beyond privacy and solidarity, but demonstrate how the two can be bridged under careful consideration of the technical, sociocultural, and institutional embedding.

scholarly journals Informal Land Rights and Infrastructure Retrofit: A Typology of Land Rights in Informal Settlements

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 273
Author(s):  
Mahsa Mesgar ◽  
Diego Ramirez-Lovering
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Land Rights ◽  
Spatial Dimension ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Public Infrastructure ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right ◽  
Control And Management

Informal settlements represent a challenging operational context for local government service providers due to precarious contextual conditions. Location choice and land procurement for public infrastructure raise the complicated question: who has the right to occupy, control, and use a piece of land in informal settlements? There is currently a dearth of intelligence on how to identify well-located land for public infrastructure, spatially and with careful consideration for safeguarding the claimed rights and preventing conflicts. Drawing on a case study of green infrastructure retrofit in seven informal settlements in Makassar, Indonesia, we classify the informal settlers’ land rights into four types: ownership, use, control, and management. This exploratory study uses a typological approach to investigate the spatial dimension of land rights in informal settlements. We introduce non-registrable land interests and the partial, dynamic, and informal land use rights that impact the land procurement for infrastructure retrofit. We also create a simple spatial matrix describing the control/power, responsibilities and land interests of different stakeholders involved in the location decision making for public infrastructure. We argue that without sufficient understanding of non-formal land rights, land procurement proposals for the public infrastructure upgrades can be frustrated by the individual or group claims on the land, making the service provision impossible in informal settlements.

scholarly journals A first look at Android applications in Google Play related to COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Samhi ◽  
Kevin Allix ◽  
Tegawendé F. Bissyandé ◽  
Jacques Klein
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Location Tracking ◽  
Response Effort ◽  
Sensitive Data ◽  
Android Apps ◽  
Digital World ◽  
Public Health Organizations ◽  
Android Applications ◽  
Google Play

AbstractDue to the convenience of access-on-demand to information and business solutions, mobile apps have become an important asset in the digital world. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, app developers have joined the response effort in various ways by releasing apps that target different user bases (e.g., all citizens or journalists), offer different services (e.g., location tracking or diagnostic-aid), provide generic or specialized information, etc. While many apps have raised some concerns by spreading misinformation or even malware, the literature does not yet provide a clear landscape of the different apps that were developed. In this study, we focus on the Android ecosystem and investigate Covid-related Android apps. In a best-effort scenario, we attempt to systematically identify all relevant apps and study their characteristics with the objective to provide a first taxonomy of Covid-related apps, broadening the relevance beyond the implementation of contact tracing. Overall, our study yields a number of empirical insights that contribute to enlarge the knowledge on Covid-related apps: (1) Developer communities contributed rapidly to the COVID-19, with dedicated apps released as early as January 2020; (2) Covid-related apps deliver digital tools to users (e.g., health diaries), serve to broadcast information to users (e.g., spread statistics), and collect data from users (e.g., for tracing); (3) Covid-related apps are less complex than standard apps; (4) they generally do not seem to leak sensitive data; (5) in the majority of cases, Covid-related apps are released by entities with past experience on the market, mostly official government entities or public health organizations.

Bringing the Automation-Related Complacency Scale into the 21st Century

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 1228-1232
Keyword(s):  
Internal Consistency ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
System Failure ◽  
Individual Values ◽  
Cronbach's Alpha ◽  
Important Measure ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
Performance Error ◽  
The Individual

Complacency potential is an important measure to avoid performance error, such as neglecting to detect a system failure. This study updates and expands upon Singh, Molloy, and Parasuraman’s 1993 Complacency-Potential Rating Scale (CPRS). We updated and expanded the CPRS questions to include technology commonly used today and how frequently the technology is used. The goal of our study was to update the scale, analyze for factor shifts and internal consistency, and to explore correlations between the individual values for each factor and the frequency of use questions. We hypothesized that the factors would not shift from the original and the revised CPRS’s four subscales. Our research found that the revised CPRS consisted of only three subscales with the following Cronbach’s Alpha values: Confidence: 0.599, Safety/Reliability: 0.534, and Trust: 0.201. Correlations between the subscales and the revised complacency-potential and the frequency of use questions are also discussed.

scholarly journals On some continuous observations of the rate of dissipation of electric charges in the open air

1905 ◽  
Vol 76 (508) ◽  
pp. 152-159 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Individual Values ◽  
Similar Work ◽  
Maximum Value ◽  
Variable Quantity ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Atmospheric Conductivity ◽  
Rate Of Dissipation ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Sea Coast

During the latter part of 1902 and the early months of 1903 I resolved to take as many observations of the rates of dissipation of positive and negative electric charges as possible, and to continue them over the whole 24 hours of the day, and, when opportunity offered, over longer periods. There appeared to be little information regarding the rate of dispersion during the night hours. At about the same time that these observations were being made, Nilsson was doing similar work at Upsala, and found a noticeable maximum value for atmospheric conductivity at about midnight. The observations were made on the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand, at a station about 20 feet above sea-level and about five miles due west from the sea coast. The apparatus used was Elster and Geitel’s Zerstreuungs- apparat , and the formula of reduction used was that given by them, viz:- E = 1/ t log V 0 /V- n / t ' log V' 0 /V' . In this formula E is proportional to the conductivity of the gas surrounding the instrument—for positive or negative charges, as the case may be. The constant “ n ” = ratio of capacity without cylinder ____________________________________ capacity with cylinder was determined by me to be 0·47, as the instrument was always used, with the protecting cover. The cover was always at one height above the base of the instrument, and was set so as to be as nearly co-axial with the discharging cylinder as could be judged by eye. No attempt was made to determine the actual capacity of the condenser cylinder and protecting cover, which would be a somewhat variable quantity owing- (1) to the differences on different days in attempting to cause the two to be co-axial; (2) to a certain amount of looseness in the fit of the shank of the cylinder on to its hole. The value above given for “ n "is the mean of several deter­minations made with different settings of the cover and cylinder. The individual values of “ n ” varied over about 0.03.

A Systematic Asymptotic Expansion Procedure for Slender Ships

1964 ◽  
Vol 8 (03) ◽  
pp. 15-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. O. Tuck
Keyword(s):  
Asymptotic Expansion ◽  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Arbitrary Shape ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Wave Resistance ◽  
Expansion Procedure ◽  
Systematic Solution ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Correct Boundary Conditions

Inner and outer expansions are used to formulate a systematic solution to the problem of the steady translation of a slender ship of arbitrary shape. Careful consideration is givien to finding the correct boundary conditions to be satisfied by successive terms in the expansions, and certain of the individual terms are determined partly or completely as functions of hull shape. Some results are given concerning the second approximations to the potential and wave resistance.

scholarly journals GUIDING FUTURE RESEARCH ON THE VALORISATION OF SHREDDER FINE RESIDUES: A REVIEW OF FOUR DECADES OF RESEARCH

Detritus ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 150-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tharaka Gunaratne ◽  
Joakim Krook ◽  
Mats Eklund ◽  
Hans Andersson
Keyword(s):  
Process Development ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Topics ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Systems Perspective ◽  
Material Characterisation ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Substitute Material ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Contamination Problem

Millions of tonnes of shredder fines are generated and disposed of globally, despite compelling reasons for its recovery. The absence of a review of previous literature, however, makes it difficult to understand the underlying reasons for this. Thus, this study attempts to investigate and assess what, to what extent, and in what ways shredder fines have been addressed in previous research. In doing so, guidelines are drawn for future research to facilitate the valorisation (upgrading and recovery) of shredder fines. Previous research concerning shredder fines was identified with respect to three main research topics. The material characterisation studies are predominantly confined to the occurrence of metals due to their recovery and contamination potential. The process development studies have often undertaken narrowly conceived objectives of addressing one resource opportunity or contamination problem at a time. Consequently, the full recovery (the retrieval of valuable resources and the bulk-utilisation as substitute material) potential of shredder fines has been largely overlooked. The main limitation of policy and regulation studies is the absence of in-depth knowledge on the implications of governmental waste- and resource-policies (macro-level) on actors’ incentives and capacities (micro-level) for fines valorisation, which is necessary to understand the marketability of fines-derived resources. Undertaking a systems perspective is the key to recognising not only the different aspects within the individual research topics but also the inter-relations between them. It also facilitates the internalisation of the inter-relations into topical research.

scholarly journals A renewal equation model to assess roles and limitations of contact tracing for disease outbreak control

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Scarabel ◽  
Lorenzo Pellis ◽  
Nicholas H. Ogden ◽  
Jianhong Wu
Keyword(s):  
Deterministic Model ◽  
Infected Individual ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Renewal Equation ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Calendar Time ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Total Incidence ◽  
Community Transmission ◽  
The Individual

We propose a deterministic model capturing essential features of contact tracing as part of public health non-pharmaceutical interventions to mitigate an outbreak of an infectious disease. By incorporating a mechanistic formulation of the processes at the individual level, we obtain an integral equation (delayed in calendar time and advanced in time since infection) for the probability that an infected individual is detected and isolated at any point in time. This is then coupled with a renewal equation for the total incidence to form a closed system describing the transmission dynamics involving contact tracing. We define and calculate basic and effective reproduction numbers in terms of pathogen characteristics and contact tracing implementation constraints. When applied to the case of SARS-CoV-2, our results show that only combinations of diagnosis of symptomatic infections and contact tracing that are almost perfect in terms of speed and coverage can attain control, unless additional measures to reduce overall community transmission are in place. Under constraints on the testing or tracing capacity, a temporary interruption of contact tracing may, depending on the overall growth rate and prevalence of the infection, lead to an irreversible loss of control even when the epidemic was previously contained.

scholarly journals On “Nationology”: The Gravitational Field of National Culture

2021 ◽  
pp. 002202212110447
Author(s):  
Plamen Akaliyski ◽  
Christian Welzel ◽  
Michael Harris Bond ◽  
Michael Minkov
Keyword(s):  
Gravitational Field ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
National Culture ◽  
Random Noise ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Individual Values ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Collective Phenomenon ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Individual

Nations have been questioned as meaningful units for analyzing culture due to their allegedly limited variance-capturing power and large internal heterogeneity. Against this skepticism, we argue that culture is by definition a collective phenomenon and focusing on individual differences contradicts the very concept of culture. Through the “miracle of aggregation,” we can eliminate random noise and arbitrary variation at the individual level in order to distill the central cultural tendencies of nations. Accordingly, we depict national culture as a gravitational field that socializes individuals into the orbit of a nation’s central cultural tendency. Even though individuals are also exposed to other gravitational forces, subcultures in turn gravitate within the limited orbit of their national culture. Using data from the World Values Survey, we show that individual values cluster in concentric circles around their nation’s cultural gravity center. We reveal the miracle of aggregation by demonstrating that nations capture the bulk of the variation in the individuals’ cultural values once they are aggregated into lower-level territorial units such as towns and sub-national regions. We visualize the gravitational force of national cultures by plotting various intra-national groups from five large countries that form distinct national clusters. Contrary to many scholars’ intuitions, alternative social aggregates, such as ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups, as well as diverse socio-demographic categories, add negligible explained variance to that already captured by nations.

scholarly journals ATTITUDES TOWARD NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND INDIVIDUAL VALUES OF RUSSIANS

2020 ◽  
pp. 54-82
Author(s):  
Т.А. Нестик
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Psychological Predictors ◽  
Individual Values ◽  
Psychological Types ◽  
Openness To Change ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Personal Attitudes ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Willingness To Use ◽  
The Relationship

Приводятся результаты эмпирического исследования (N=1600), посвященного отношению россиян к новым технологиям. Показано, что позитивное отношение личности к новым технологиям поддерживается ценностями открытости к изменениям и отрицательно связано с ценностями сохранения. Удалось прояснить соотношение когнитивных, аффективных и поведенческих компонентов отношения личности к новым технологиям. Были выделены социально-психологические типы оценивания новых технологий («индифферентные», «ориентированные на влияние значимых других», «разборчивые», «прагматики», «ориентированные на безопасность»), а также социально-психологические типы отношения личности к новым технологиям («технофилы», «тревожные сторонники технического прогресса», «технофобы» и «безразличные к технологиям»). Выявлены социально-психологические предикторы технооптимизма, технофобии, технофилии и готовности использовать новые технологии. На основании проведенных исследований можно сделать вывод о том, что технофилия и технофобия являются не противоположными полюсами одной шкалы, а разными феноменами, связанными друг с другом. The results of an empirical study (N = 1600) devoted to the attitudes of Russians towards new technologies are presented. It is shown that the positive attitudes of the individual to new technologies is supported by the values of openness to change and is negatively associated with the values of conservation. We managed to clarify the relationship between the cognitive, affective and behavioral components of personal attitudes to new technologies. We have identified several socio-psychological types of assessment of new technologies ("indifferent", "relying on social support", "discerning", "pragmatists", "safety-oriented"), as well as socio-psychological types of personality attitudes to new technologies ("technophiles", "anxious supporters of technical progress", "technophobes", and "indifferent to technology"). The socio-psychological predictors of techno-optimism, technophobia, technophilia and willingness to use new technologies were identified. Based on the research carried out, it can be concluded that technophilia and technophobia are not opposite poles of the same scale, but different phenomena related to each other.

scholarly journals Mediatization, Spatial Coherence and Social Sustainability: The Role of Digital Media Networks in a Swedish Countryside Community

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Jansson
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Communication Networks ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Spatial Coherence ◽  
Social Sustainability ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Communicative Patterns ◽  
The Individual

What does the implementation of new communication networks mean for the spatial coherence and social sustainability of rural communities? This paper takes its key from Wittel’s discussion of network sociality, understood as the opposite of Gemeinschaft. Wittel’s argument may inform our understanding of how communicative patterns in rural communities are partly reembedded through ongoing media transitions. But it must also be problematized. Relating Wittel’s discussion to Halfacree’s model of spatial coherence and Urry’s notion of network capital, as well as to findings from an ethnographic study in a Swedish countryside community, a more complex view is presented. It is argued that global communication networks under rural conditions contribute to the integration and sustainability of the community, as much as to processes of expansion and differentiation. The results show that network sociality and community constitute interdependent concepts. Through their capacity of linking people to external realms of interest, while simultaneously reinforcing their sense of belonging in the local community, online media promote ontological security at the individual level, thus operating as a social stabilizer.

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