COVID-19 Mobile Positioning Data Contact Tracing and Patient Privacy Regulations: Exploratory Search of Global Response Strategies and the Use of Digital Tools in Nigeria

Abstract

Background The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is the biggest global economic and health challenge of the century. Its effect and impact are still evolving, with deaths estimated to reach 40 million if unchecked. One effective and complementary strategy to slow the spread and reduce the impact is to trace the primary and secondary contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases using contact tracing technology. Objective The objective of this paper is to survey strategies for digital contact tracing for the COVID-19 pandemic and to present how using mobile positioning data conforms with Nigeria’s data privacy regulations. Methods We conducted an exploratory review of current measures for COVID-19 contact tracing implemented around the world. We then analyzed how countries are using mobile positioning data technology to reduce the spread of COVID-19. We made recommendations on how Nigeria can adopt this approach while adhering to the guidelines provided by the National Data Protection Regulation (NDPR). Results Despite the potential of digital contact tracing, it always conflicts with patient data privacy regulations. We found that Nigeria’s response complies with the NDPR, and that it is possible to leverage call detail records to complement current strategies within the NDPR. Conclusions Our study shows that mobile position data contact tracing is important for epidemic control as long as it conforms to relevant data privacy regulations. Implementation guidelines will limit data misuse.

The Role of Health Technology and Informatics in a Global Public Health Emergency: Practices and Implications From the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…However, ethical and legal issues [ 42 ] are raised with the widespread use of contact tracing and monitoring technologies [ 43 ]. The pressure to protect personal information is higher than ever.…”

Anonymity Preserving IoT-Based COVID-19 and Other Infectious Disease Contact Tracing Model

“…Authors in [41] describe how mobile phone call detail data about population movement patterns can be used for early COVID-19 cluster identification and notification.…”

“…An individual can optionally volunteer to allow their call detail information to be mapped to retrace their movement after they have tested positive. This will help with the accurate decontamination efforts, though [41] noted that accuracy of using call detail registry is between 50meters and 300meters. This location sensitivity can be visualized from a distance between A and B in Figure 10.…”

Estudio de contactos en infectados por SARS-CoV-2. El papel fundamental de la Atención Primaria y de la Salud Pública

“…para la autoevaluación de los usuarios sobre si pueden tener COVID-19 o no y las indicaciones a seguir 46 . La utilización de apps para el rastreo de contactos a fin de controlar esta pandemia podría ser útil si se prueba su efectividad 47,48 , que está supeditada a que la use una amplia población. Pero estos métodos pueden vulnerar la protección de datos y por eso pueden ser mal aceptadas por los usuarios.…”