Experts warn: High-tech tools to fight COVID-19 pose their own risks

According to a news article, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the development and deployment of a range of technologies meant to combat its spread. These technologies that come in the form of tracking apps to infrared cameras, however, pose a real threat to individual digital rights and privacy, a research has found. The research by Germany’s AlgorithmWatch monitored the technology in use across 16 European countries to combat COVID-19. The research reached the conclusion that despite the urgency to bring the pandemic under control, there is a need to ensure proper oversight so that the technologies will not undermine human rights, but rather be compatible with democratic checks and balances and protect citizens’ rights.