Hypothetical Case Study

Contact research data used for surveillance

Melbourne, 2021

The health authorities in Victoria have introduced a rigorous contact tracing technologies to help manage the spread of the Covid pandemic. The technologies include:

• a QR code registration system. Every premise, retail outlet, workplace, public space, and vehicle has to obtain a unique a QR code. Anyone entering the premise of vehicle must scan the QR code to register their entry
• An App that detects and logs anyone within a few metres

If a person tests positive for Covid, all contacts with others that the infected person had can immediately be identified from the data collected so that contact tracing can be effective. The contact tracing compromises an individuals privacy in that the government has access to data revealing locations visited and other people the individual has been near. However, this is compromise of privacy is regarded as acceptable by most people because it helps protect the public from the ravages of the pandemic. Individuals are not compelled to install the App or register their location with the QR scanner, but the vast majority of people do so because they consider this to be the ethical thing to do.

Given that the vast majority of people co-operate and enter the QR code of each place they visit, and download the App, the police in Victoria have realised that this data can help them protect the public from criminal activity. Police executives have commissioned a data scientist to suggest ways in which the contract tracing data might be used by the police. The consultant has suggested the following:

• Identify individuals who have not downloaded the App or ever registered a QR code. Some of these individuals can be assumed to be criminals that dont want anyone to know where they are
• Identify close associates of known criminals. Knowledge of people that criminals associate with can help police investigate future crimes. This is particularly useful to identify drug trafficking
• Investigate individuals who were present in a retail store when goods were stolen from the shelves (ie shop-lifting)

  Hypothetical Case Study

  Contact research data used for surveillance

  Melbourne, 2021

  The health authorities in Victoria have introduced a rigorous contact tracing technologies to help manage the spread of the Covid pandemic. The technologies include:

• a QR code registration system. Every premise, retail outlet, workplace, public space, and vehicle has to obtain a unique a QR code. Anyone entering the premise of vehicle must scan the QR code to register their entry
• An App that detects and logs anyone within a few metres

• If a person tests positive for Covid, all contacts with others that the infected person had can immediately be identified from the data collected so that contact tracing can be effective. The contact tracing compromises an individuals privacy in that the government has access to data revealing locations visited and other people the individual has been near. However, this is compromise of privacy is regarded as acceptable by most people because it helps protect the public from the ravages of the pandemic. Individuals are not compelled to install the App or register their location with the QR scanner, but the vast majority of people do so because they consider this to be the ethical thing to do.

  Given that the vast majority of people co-operate and enter the QR code of each place they visit, and download the App, the police in Victoria have realised that this data can help them protect the public from criminal activity. Police executives have commissioned a data scientist to suggest ways in which the contract tracing data might be used by the police. The consultant has suggested the following:

• Identify individuals who have not downloaded the App or ever registered a QR code. Some of these individuals can be assumed to be criminals that dont want anyone to know where they are
• Identify close associates of known criminals. Knowledge of people that criminals associate with can help police investigate future crimes. This is particularly useful to identify drug trafficking
• Investigate individuals who were present in a retail store when goods were stolen from the shelves (ie shop-lifting)

Ethical Question:

Do the benefits of contract tracing to contain the spread of the pandemic, and assist police in their investigations outweigh the privacy issues compromised?

Question A2

Apply the duty-based (deontology) ethical theory to this case and provide an answer to the ethical question raised.

[5 marks]

Question A3

Assuming that you are a member of the Australian Computer Society (ACS), choose one (1) element of the ACS's code of ethics that you think is relevant to this case, and provide an answer to the ethical question raised. Explain why you think the ACS element is relevant.