[PRESS RELEASE] Technology, Data Privacy, and Infodemic | Difussion 22

Yogyakarta, 17 April 2020 – The increasingly problematic development of the COVID-19 pandemic also led to a variety of new issues in the society, ranging from data privacy issues to the phenomenon of panic buying. One of the causes of these new issues is due to the rapid flow of information and technological advances that are happening so fast at the moment, which on the other hand also presents various technology-based solutions in handling the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic itself. To review more deeply on how the use of technology in handling the COVID-19 can be related to data privacy and infodemic issues, Center for Digital Society (CfDS) brought the 22^nd Difussion series, which also presented three CfDS researchers, namely Janitra Haryanto, Fajar Cahyono, and Dhalia Ndaru. Still with adjustments to the rules of physical distancing related to the COVID-19, this Difussion which took place on Friday (17/04), used the YouTube live streaming platform.

The Use of Technology in Slowing the Spread of COVID-19

Janitra Haryanto opened the first session by presenting comparative data on countries that were effective in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking case studies from China, South Korea and Singapore, Janitra emphasized that there is a common notion that contributes to the effective handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in these three countries, which is the involvement of technology on its policies.

South Korea has made a breakthrough in its public policy, where they have made smartphone-based tracking applications, as well as information sites that contain COVID-19 affected locations and locations that have been visited by COVID-19 patients. China has also initiated the use of technology and artificial intelligence, such as location and potential threats tracking through the WeChat application; track record analysis of COVID-19 patients through e-wallet; the use of drones for economic activities such as package delivery and the logistics of COVID-19 test results; and the use of artificial intelligence to find vaccine. Singapore has also developed an application called ‘trace together’, that makes it easy to track the record of patients with COVID-19 through people who have had contact with the related patients. From these three countries, we can see different technological manifestations between authoritarian-based and democratic-based countries. “Collective spirit is also important to be fostered in the community, because it helps the government to issue public policies in handling the COVID-19 pandemic”, concluded Janitra.

Disclosure of Public Information During the Period of COVID-19 Pandemic

Fajar Cahyono opened the second session by presenting a research result from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) on the perception of the Indonesian people on the public disclosure of COVID-19 patients’ information. In general, the society supports the dissemination of COVID-19 patients’ information, which are in the form of a travel history, patient’s name, and home address. Although the public shows positive support for the disclosure of information, it turns out that patient’s data should not be disseminated if it is viewed from a legal perspective. By law, medical secrets can only be disclosed if it is requested by law enforcement officials, by patients, by statutory provisions, or for health purposes.

Information privacy or the right to control personal information and its dissemination are important points, where when there is an emergency, the information can be shared to take preventative measures and to protect the public. Fajar also underlined the existence of teleological ethics that sees the need to disseminate personal information from the purpose (good or bad) on spreading the information. At present, information privacy should be able to be opened to the public because Indonesia has entered the COVID-19 emergency phase, but on the other hand it must still pay attention to the disseminated points of information (for example, it can only disseminate travel history). To close the session, Fajar argued that travel history became a very important information point to be disseminated in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, so that people could shift their focus to anticipate and to limit the access of the areas that were already contaminated by the COVID-19 virus.

Panic During the Pandemic: Why?

Indonesia seems to not be able to escape from the rampant panic buying phenomenon found in various countries. People flooded the supermarket and pharmacy shortly after the announcement of two positive cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia. Dhalia Ndaru explained that panic is a part of anxiety, a response mechanism when we are faced with an unfamiliar condition, while our body is not yet equipped with an adequate defense mechanism. This has led our emotions to take over and dominate our actions.  This situation is compounded by the existence of infodemic, which is a wave of excessive information about a problem that causes difficulty in identifying the solutions. Infodemic can cause misinformation, disinformation, and spread of rumors related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In dealing with such conditions, Dhalia stressed the importance of good personal behavior on seeking information. To reduce panic, we should limit the search for information about COVID-19 and ensure that the source of information we receive is credible before sharing it with others. If it is not enough, taking part in an online sharing session can also help us to understand the issues, but it is important to pay attention to the speakers before partaking in a sharing session. Our personal behavior should be in line with the policies issued by the government to ease the mitigation of the pandemic, and more importantly, use social media wisely. “Do not let our desire to update our activities is also contributing to the creation of panic and anxiety among the society”, explained Dhalia.

Author: Christophorus Ariobumi
Editor: Raka Wicaksono