TraceTogether : pandemic response, democracy, and technology
On 20 March 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Singapore government released a new app called “TraceTogether.” Developed by the Ministry of Health, SG United, and GovTech Singapore, the app uses the Bluetooth capability of smartphones to store information about which other smartphones...
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sg-ntu-dr.10356-1437112020-09-18T02:15:11Z TraceTogether : pandemic response, democracy, and technology Stevens, Hallam Haines, Monamie Bhadra School of Humanities School of Social Sciences Science Humanities::History Surveillance COVID-19 On 20 March 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Singapore government released a new app called “TraceTogether.” Developed by the Ministry of Health, SG United, and GovTech Singapore, the app uses the Bluetooth capability of smartphones to store information about which other smartphones have come into close proximity with your own. These data facilitate the government’s process of “contact tracing” through which they track those who have potentially come into contact with the virus and place them in quarantine. This essay attempts to understand what kinds of citizens and civic behaviour may be brought into being by this technology. By examining the workings and affordances of the TraceTogether app in detail, we argue that its peer-to-peer and open source technology features mobilize the rhetorics and ideals of citizens science and democratic participation. However, by deploying these within a context that centralizes data, the app turns ideals borne of dissent and protest on their head, using them to build trust not within a community but rather in government power and control. Rather than building social trust, TraceTogether becomes a technological substitute for it. The significant public support for TraceTogether shows both the possibilities and limitations of citizen science in less liberal political contexts and circumstances. Ministry of Education (MOE) Accepted version The authors would like to thank Rabindra Ratan and Ian Rowen for helpful suggestions in the drafting of this essay. Hallam Stevens’s research is supported by grants from the Ministry of Education, Singapore (2017-T1-002-097) and from the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Research Centre at Nanyang Technological University. 2020-09-18T02:13:24Z 2020-09-18T02:13:24Z 2020 Journal Article Stevens, H., & Haines, M. B. (2020). TraceTogether : pandemic response, democracy, and technology. East Asian Science, Technology and Society, 14(3), 523-532. doi:10.1215/18752160-8698301 1875-2152 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143711 10.1215/18752160-8698301 3 14 523 532 en 2017-T1-002-097 East Asian Science, Technology and Society © 2020 Duke University Press. All rights reserved. This paper was published in East Asian Science, Technology and Society and is made available with permission of Duke University Press. application/pdf |
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Science Humanities::History Surveillance COVID-19 Stevens, Hallam Haines, Monamie Bhadra TraceTogether : pandemic response, democracy, and technology |
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On 20 March 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Singapore government released a new app called “TraceTogether.” Developed by the Ministry of Health, SG United, and GovTech Singapore, the app uses the Bluetooth capability of smartphones to store information about which other smartphones have come into close proximity with your own. These data facilitate the government’s process of “contact tracing” through which they track those who have potentially come into contact with the virus and place them in quarantine. This essay attempts to understand what kinds of citizens and civic behaviour may be brought into being by this technology. By examining the workings and affordances of the TraceTogether app in detail, we argue that its peer-to-peer and open source technology features mobilize the rhetorics and ideals of citizens science and democratic participation. However, by deploying these within a context that centralizes data, the app turns ideals borne of dissent and protest on their head, using them to build trust not within a community but rather in government power and control. Rather than building social trust, TraceTogether becomes a technological substitute for it. The significant public support for TraceTogether shows both the possibilities and limitations of citizen science in less liberal political contexts and circumstances. |
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School of Humanities |
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School of Humanities Stevens, Hallam Haines, Monamie Bhadra |
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Article |
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Stevens, Hallam Haines, Monamie Bhadra |
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Stevens, Hallam |
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TraceTogether : pandemic response, democracy, and technology |
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TraceTogether : pandemic response, democracy, and technology |
title_full |
TraceTogether : pandemic response, democracy, and technology |
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TraceTogether : pandemic response, democracy, and technology |
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TraceTogether : pandemic response, democracy, and technology |
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tracetogether : pandemic response, democracy, and technology |
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2020 |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143711 |
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