Pandemic-Driven Technology Adoption: Public Decision Makers Need to Tread Cautiously

During the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic, around the world, evidence is mounting as to the unevenness of impacts across communities. There are disproportionately more impacts on people who are elderly, economically marginalized, immunologically compromised, and members of racialized and equity-seeking communities. As part of the COVID-19 response, virus transmission mitigation efforts, including the use of new technology tools like contact tracing apps, are being explored. There are significant implications to the use of these tools, including how they impact different community members and exacerbate digital divide, exclusion, and surveillance issues. This article brings forward a citizen participation framework that is instructive for decision-makers charged with pandemic-driven technology adoption.