Here come Covid-19 tracing apps – and privacy tradeoffs

A smartphone app built for the state of Utah displaying coronavirus test sites. The app tracks symptoms and shares location data for contact tracing, the process of determining who might have been exposed to the virus. — Lindsay Whitehurst/AP

As governments around the world consider how to monitor new coronavirus outbreaks while reopening their societies, many are starting to bet on smartphone apps to help stanch the pandemic.

But their decisions on which technologies to use – and how far those allow authorities to peer into private lives – are highlighting some uncomfortable tradeoffs between protecting privacy and public health.