Low technological uptake to detect positive cases of COVID-19 through contact tracing apps

The report on the Use of Contact Tracing Apps in the context of COVID-19 concludes that social ignorance and mistrust about the existence of these tools have prevented their consolidation.

Over the past year and in the context of the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic, various technological solutions have been deployed around the world, such as mobile applications to detect close contacts of positive COVID-19 cases.

In order to measure the impact of these applications, the TIC Salut Social Foundation has carried out a study based on data published by different countries. The report on the Use of Contact Tracing Apps.

The countries that provided information included Germany, Croatia, France, Italy, Switzerland and Spain, among others. The quantitative study is based on different variables, some of the most relevant being the number of users and downloads, the number of registered positives or the number of interactions between the system and user. This information has made it possible to establish correlations between absolute and partial data on usability and technological efficiency in the fight against the pandemic.

The report points out that despite having effective tools to control the spread of the virus, “the limited promotion that has been made of these by the governments of each country and distrust in the contact tracing model […] regarding the privacy and security of the user”, have meant a low uptake on the part of the population. For more details on the study you can download the results report at the following link.