Covid-19

The debate over the data storage model of a coronavirus tracing app shows how the German government’s search for digital infection control tools became caught up between public health officials, privacy experts and the US tech industry. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed how we all work and live. Governments of different countries have encouraged adoption of these measures to contain the spread of the virus which can be lethal, has no known cure yet, and is highly communicable.

Quiet streets and empty malls on Friday nights. In the eyes of overseas visitors, the city might still seem lively, but for Hongkongers like me the vibrant buzz of this city has been replaced by fear, personal isolation, and the smell of rancid surgical masks.

The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the global economy are dramatic. The virus is shaking all major economies simultaneously. At the same time,  the crisis is acting as an accelerator for the developing countries that were already highly in debt. An interview with Barbara Unmüßig, President of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, on the latest developments.

COVID-19 uniquely affects women. Here are many of the ways it does.

As European countries turn to apps to contain the pandemic, the EU must weigh the public health emergency against its own data protection rules. Policymakers and experts on data protection and privacy in Brussels warn that tracing and monitoring technology can undermine fundamental rights.

App developers and state governments in the United States are churning out new technologies for tracking the spread of the coronavirus. In the absence of a national privacy law, experts raise concerns about surveillance and scramble to define the boundaries for data collection during the pandemic.