🏆 Wearables and Privacy

Extract from Author

On 5 June, the Singapore government announced that it has been developing “wearable” devices for use in COVID-19 contact tracing. This came in response to the low uptake and the shortcomings of the TraceTogether app, rolled out by GovTech in March. For instance, when TraceTogether runs in the background, the Bluetooth required for it to operate is disabled on iOS (Apple) phones.

Author’s Reflection

What is your personal takeaway from your SOAP story?
We are interested in how the Smart Nation is being assembled through surveillance technologies and what role the public might have in this project. We really hope the series of pieces we have written for AcademiaSG has contributed in a small way to public discourses of the role of technology in society.

Now that your story has been published for some time, do you have any reflections to share post-publishing?
Now that we are well into the integration of different contact tracing surveillance technologies into our daily lives, we are watching with interest how people respond--both the people who are wary, as well as others who want more of it. It seems that such technologies are being created to be a powerful platform of social trust between the state and its people. But we would like to understand how social trust can be strengthened, not only between the state and Singaporeans, but between Singaporeans, as well.

What did you hope to convey to readers through this story?
We wanted to provoke some discussion in an area that is not seen as political, which is technology. We wanted to show how different values get built into technologies and for there to be a wider spectrum of debate and input into the building of such tech.

How do you feel for being recognised for your work?
We are honored and surprised--we didn't know anyone was paying attention!

Written by
Hallam Stevens,
Monamie Bhadra Haines,
Academia

Tuesday,
16 June 2020

Commentary of the Month, Winner