TÜRKİYE’DE BİREYLERİN COVID-19 DÖNEMİNDE KULLANILAN ULUSAL TEMAS TAKİP UYGULAMASINA İLİŞKİN ENDİŞELERİ

Year 2024, , 735 - 752, 01.07.2024

Ü. Laçin Yalçınkaya , Cem Sütcü , İhsan Eken

https://doi.org/10.7456/tojdac.1473413

Abstract

Temas takip uygulamaları, COVID-19 salgınıyla mücadele amacıyla dünyanın birçok ülkesinde kullanılmıştır. Ancak bu uygulamaların meşruiyeti, veri mahremiyeti adına taşıdıkları riskler sebebiyle, geniş çevrelerce tartışılmıştır. Söz konusu dönemde, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Sağlık Bakanlığı da Hayat Eve Sığar (HES) adlı uygulamayı kullanıma sunmuştur. Ancak uygulama, veri gizliliği ve insan hakları alanlarında çalışan uzmanlardan yaygın şekilde eleştiri toplamıştır. Çalışma kapsamında, uzmanlar tarafından dile getirilen endişelerin, uygulamanın kullanıcıları tarafından taşınıp taşınmadıklarının anlaşılması amacıyla nicel bir araştırma tasarlanmıştır. Araştırmanın verisi; gönüllü onam vermiş 457 katılımcıdan, temas takip uygulamalarına ilişkin dünya çapında dile getirilen endişelerden hareketle yapılandırılmış bir ölçek kullanılarak - dönemin karantina koşulları uyarınca - çevrimiçi şekilde toplanmıştır. Bulgularımız Türkiye’de yaşayan bireylerin, sosyoekonomik durumlarından bağımsız olarak, HES uygulamasına ilişkin endişeler taşıdıklarını göstermektedir. Söz konusu endişeler artan dijital gözetim korkusu ve HES uygulamasının meşruluğuna duyulan güvensizlik olmak üzere iki ana kategori altında toplanmaktadır. Sonuçlardan hareketle, gelecekte karşılaşılabilecek sağlık krizlerinde temas takip uygulamalarından alınan faydanın artırılabilmesi için; uygulama mimarisinin bireylerin veri mahretmiyetine saygılı, merkezi olmayan, şeffaf ve denetlenebilir bir yapıda yeniden düzenlenmesini öneriyoruz.

Keywords

Temas Takip Uygulamaları, Dijital Gözetim, Veri Mahremiyeti, COVID-19

CONCERNS OF THE PEOPLE IN TURKEY REGARDING THE NATIONAL CONTACT TRACING MOBILE APPLICATION OF THE COVID-19 PERIOD

Abstract

Contact tracing mobile applications (CTMAs) were used by many governments worldwide within their pandemic response strategies during COVID-19. Although they promise essential benefits for public health, CTMAs are also being widely debated since they pose risks regarding personal data privacy. The Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health deployed a CTMA called the HES app, to complement the manual contact tracing efforts. However, since its release, it has garnered significant criticism from experts advocating data privacy and human rights. By reviewing the available literature, we designed a quantitative research to explore if the individuals living in Turkey also have the concerns expressed by the experts regarding the HES application. Due to lockdown measures, we collected the data through an online survey, which we developed based on the main points of concern voiced globally about the concept of CTMA from 457 participants. According to our findings, worries regarding the HES application do exist and are prevalent among individuals living in Turkey, independent of their socio-economic status. The concerns can be grouped under two main categories, namely, having concerns about invasive digital surveillance, and the lack of belief in the legitimacy of the HES application. Therefore, we suggest that the application’s architecture be reorganized in a decentralized, transparent, auditable, privacy-preserving manner for future health crises to better serve public health.

Keywords

Contact tracing mobile applications, digital surveillance, data privacy, COVID-19

References

• AAP. (2020, April 27). 2 million download virus apps. PerthNow. https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/coronavirus/aussies-praised-as-more-than-two-million-download-covidsafe-contact-tracing-app-ng-b881531548z
• Abuhammad, S., Khabour, O. F., & Alzoubi, K. H. (2020). COVID-19 Contact-Tracing Technology: Acceptability and Ethical Issues of Use. Patient Preference and Adherence, 14, 1639–1647. 10.2147/PPA.S276183
• Ahmed, N., Michelin, R. A., Xue, W., Ruj, S., Malaney, R., Kanhere, S. S., Seneviratne, A., Hu, W., Janicke, H., & Jha, S. (2020). A Survey of COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps. IEEE Access, 8, 134577–134601. 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3010226
• Alan, S. (2020, May 25). HES uyarısı: Kişisel verilerin gizliliği ihlal edilebilir. Gazete Duvar. https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2020/05/25/hes-uyarisi-kisisel-verilerin-gizliligi-ihlal-edilebilir
• Almagor, J., & Picascia, S. (2020). Exploring the effectiveness of a COVID-19 contact tracing app using an agent-based model. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 22235. 10.1038/s41598-020-79000-y
• Altmann S., Milsom L., Zillessen H., Blasone R., Gerdon F., Bach R., Kreuter F., Nosenzo D., Toussaert, S., Abeler J. (2020). Acceptability of App-Based Contact Tracing for COVID-19: Cross-Country Survey Study. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth, 8(8), e19857. 10.2196/19857
• Anglemyer, A., Moore, T. H., Parker, L., Chambers, T., Grady, A., Chiu, K., Parry, M., Wilczynska, M., Flemyng, E., & Bero, L. (2020). Digital contact tracing technologies in epidemics: A rapid review. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 8. 10.1002/14651858.CD013699
• Azad, M. A., Arshad, J., Akmal, S. M. A., Riaz, F., Abdullah, S., Imran, M., & Ahmad, F. (2020). A First Look at Privacy Analysis of COVID-19 Contact Tracing Mobile Applications. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 1–1. 10.1109/JIOT.2020.3024180
• Bay, J., Kek, J., Tan, A., Hau, C. S., Yongquan, L., Tan, J., & Quy, T. A. (2020). BlueTrace: A privacy-preserving protocol for community-driven contact tracing across borders. https://bluetrace.io/static/bluetrace_whitepaper-938063656596c104632def383eb33b3c.pdf
• Bedogni, L., Rumi, S. K., & Salim, F. (2020). Modeling Memory for Individual Re-identification in Decentralised Mobile Contact Tracing Applications. http://arxiv.org/abs/2010.05514
• Busvine, D., Alkousaa, R., & Harvey, J. (2020a, June 17). The German coronavirus tracing app downloaded 6.5 million times. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-germany-app-idUSKBN23O13G
• Busvine, D. (2020b, April 22). Switzerland, Austria align with ‘Gapple’ on corona contact tracing. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-europe-tech-idUSL3N2CA36L
• Çayır, F. (2020a). Pandemic Tracking Apps and Monitoring of Personal Data Report. Alternatif Bilişim Derneği. https://ekitap.alternatifbilisim.org/covid19-pandemic-tracking-apps-report
• Çayır, F. (2020b). COVID-19 Sürecinde Temas Takip Uygulamaları ve Kişisel Verilerin Korunması. Alternatif Bilişim Derneği. https://ekitap.alternatifbilisim.org/covid-19-temas-takip-uygulamalari
• Çayır, F. (2020c, October 12). COVID-19 ile mücadelede dijital hak ve özgürlüklere saygı. Alternatif Bilişim Derneği. https://alternatifbilisim.org/covid-19-ile-mucadele-dijital-hak-ve-ozgurluklere-saygi
• Chan, E. Y., & Saqib, N. U. (2021). Privacy concerns can explain unwillingness to download and use contact tracing apps when COVID-19 concerns are high. Computers in Human Behavior, 119, 106718. 10.1016/j.chb.2021.106718
• Cho, H., Ippolito, D., & Yu, Y. W. (2020). Contact Tracing Mobile Apps for COVID-19: Privacy Considerations and Related Trade-offs. http://arxiv.org/abs/2003.11511
• Clarke, J. (1998). Contact tracing for chlamydia: Data on effectiveness. International Journal of STD & AIDS, 9(4), 187–191. 10.1258/0956462981921945
• Culnane, C., & Leins, K. (2020). Misconceptions in Privacy Protection and Regulation. Law in Context, 36(2), 49–60. 10.26826/law-in-context.v36i2.110
• Dar, A. B., Lone, A. H., Zahoor, S., Khan, A. A., & Naaz, R. (2020). Applicability of mobile contact tracing in fighting pandemic (COVID-19): Issues, challenges and solutions. Computer Science Review, 38, 100307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosrev.2020.100307
• Dijk, J. Van. (2020). The Network Society. SAGE.
• Donnelly, C. A., Ghani, A. C., Leung, G. M., Hedley, A. J., Fraser, C., Riley, S., Abu-Raddad, L. J., Ho, L.-M., Thach, T.-Q., Chau, P., Chan, K.-P., Lam, T.-H., Tse, L.-Y., Tsang, T., Liu, S.-H., Kong, J. H., Lau, E. M., Ferguson, N. M., & Anderson, R. M. (2003). Epidemiological determinants of spread of causal agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong. The Lancet, 361(9371), 1761–1766. 10.1016/S0140-6736(03)13410-1
• Dumbrava, C. (2020). Lifting coronavirus restrictions: The role of therapeutics, testing, and contact tracing apps: in-depth analysis. https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2861/7568
• Eames, K. T. D., & Keeling, M. J. (2003). Contact tracing and disease control. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 270(1533), 2565–2571. 10.1098/rspb.2003.2554
• Ekong, I., Chukwu, E., & Chukwu, M. (2020). COVID-19 Mobile Positioning Data Contact Tracing and Patient Privacy Regulations: Exploratory Search of Global Response Strategies and the Use of Digital Tools in Nigeria. JMIR MHealth and UHealth, 8(4), e19139. 10.2196/19139
• Ellis-Petersen, H. (2020, May 4). India’s COVID-19 app fuels worries over authoritarianism and surveillance. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/04/how-safe-is-it-really-privacy-fears-over-india-coronavirus-app
• Ferretti, L., Wymant, C., Kendall, M., Zhao, L., Nurtay, A., Abeler-Dörner, L., Parker, M., Bonsall, D., & Fraser, C. (2020). Quantifying SARS-CoV-2 transmission suggests epidemic control with digital contact tracing. Science, 368(6491), eabb6936. 10.1126/science.abb6936
• Future of Privacy Forum. (2020, March 25). A Closer Look at Location Data: Privacy and Pandemics. Future of Privacy Forum. https://fpf.org/blog/a-closer-look-at-location-data-privacy-and-pandemics
• Gandhi, M., Yokoe, D. S., & Havlir, D. V. (2020). Asymptomatic Transmission, the Achilles’ Heel of Current Strategies to Control Covid-19. New England Journal of Medicine. 10.1056/NEJMe2009758
• Gasser, U., Ienca, M., Scheibner, J., Sleigh, J., & Vayena, E. (2020). Digital tools against COVID-19: Framing the ethical challenges and how to address them. http://arxiv.org/abs/2004.10236
• Geneviève, L. D., Martani, A., Wangmo, T., Paolotti, D., Koppeschaar, C., Kjelsø, C., Guerrisi, C., Hirsch, M., Woolley-Meza, O., Lukowicz, P., Flahault, A., & Elger, B. S. (2019). Participatory Disease Surveillance Systems: Ethical Framework. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(5), e12273. 10.2196/12273
• Girgin, Y., & Sahin, T. (2020, December 28). Turkey to raise minimum wage by 21.56% in 2021. Anadolu Agency. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/economy/turkey-to-raise-minimum-wage-by-2156-in-2021/2090819
• Google/Apple. (2020a). Contact Tracing—Bluetooth Specification v1.1. https://blog.google/documents/58/Contact_Tracing_-_Bluetooth_Specification_v1.1_RYGZbKW.pdf
• Google/Apple. (2020b, May 20). Exposure Notification API launches to support public health agencies. https://blog.google/inside-google/company-announcements/apple-google-exposure-notification-api-launches
• Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2014). Multivariate Data Analysis: Pearson New International Edition (7th Edition). Pearson Education Limited.
• Harari, Y. N. (2020, March 20). Yuval Noah Harari: The world after coronavirus. Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/19d90308-6858-11ea-a3c9-1fe6fedcca75
• Hayat Eve Sığar. [_hayatevesigar]. (2020, December 14). Pandemiyle mücadelemiz sürüyor. Oluşturulan 92 milyon HES Kodu, 1.3 milyar kez sorgulandı. #HESKodu #hayatevesığar [Tweet]. https://twitter.com/_hayatevesigar/status/1338044578226724864
• Hinch, R., Probert, W., Nurtay, A., Kendall, M., Wymant, C., Hall, M., Lythgoe, K., Cruz, A. B., Zhao, L., Stewart, A., Ferretti, L., Parker, M., Meroueh, A., Mathias, B., Stevenson, S., Montero, D., Warren, J., Mather, N. K., Finkelstein, A., … Fraser, C. (2020). Effective Configurations of a Digital Contact Tracing App: A report to NHSX. https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/1009/Report_-_Effective_App_Configurations.pdf
• Hsiao, H.-C., Huang, C.-Y., Hong, B.-K., Cheng, S.-M., Hu, H.-Y., Wu, C.-C., Lee, J.-S., Wang, S.-H., & Jeng, W. (2020). An Empirical Evaluation of Bluetooth-based Decentralized Contact Tracing in Crowds. http://arxiv.org/abs/2011.04322
• Human Rights Watch. (2020, April 2). Governments Should Respect Rights in COVID-19 Surveillance. https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/02/governments-should-respect-rights-covid-19-surveillance
• Illmer, A. (2021, January 5). Singapore reveals COVID privacy data available to police. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55541001
• Karimuribo, E. D., Mutagahywa, E., Sindato, C., Mboera, L., Mwabukusi, M., Kariuki Njenga, M., Teesdale, S., Olsen, J., & Rweyemamu, M. (2017). A Smartphone App (AfyaData) for Innovative One Health Disease Surveillance from Community to National Levels in Africa: Intervention in Disease Surveillance. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 3(4), e94. 10.2196/publichealth.7373
• Kasapoğlu, Ç. (2020, May 13). Türkiye ve dünyadaki temas takip uygulamaları güvenli mi, hak ve mahremiyet ihlallerine yol açar mı? BBC News Türkçe. https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-dunya-52638919
• Koca, F. (2020). Turkey’s Management of Covid-19: Measures and Strategies of Health Policies. Insight Turkey, 22(Summer 2020), 55–65. 10.25253/99.2020223.04
• Koh, D. (2020, March 20). Singapore government launches new app for contact tracing to combat spread of COVID-19. MobiHealthNews. https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/asia-pacific/singapore-government-launches-new-app-contact-tracing-combat-spread-covid-19
• Konak, N., & Ertan, C. (2020). COVID-19 Pandemisi ve Beden-İktidar İlişkisi: Foucaultcu Bir Analiz. Kuram ve Uygulamada Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi. 4(2), 26-40. 10.48066/kusob.827565
• Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining Sample Size for Research Activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30(3), 607–610. 10.1177/001316447003000308
• Leins, K., Culnane, C., & Rubinstein, B. I. (2020). Tracking, tracing, trust: Contemplating mitigating the impact of COVID‐19 with technological interventions. Medical Journal of Australia, 213(1), 6-8.e1. 10.5694/mja2.50669
• Levy, B., & Stewart, M. (2020). A Systematic Review of the Ethics and Efficacy of Digital Contact Tracing Applications. Harvard Data Science Review. 10.13140/RG.2.2.23432.85766
• Lo, B., & Sim, I. (2020). Ethical Framework for Assessing Manual and Digital Contact Tracing for COVID-19. Annals of Internal Medicine. 10.7326/M20-5834
• Loayza, N. V. (2020). Costs and Trade-Offs in the Fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Developing Country Perspective. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/33764
• Morley, J., Cowls, J., Taddeo, M., & Floridi, L. (2020). Ethical guidelines for COVID-19 tracing apps. Nature, 582(7810), 29–31. 10.1038/d41586-020-01578-0
• Morozov, E. [evgenymorozov]. (2020, April 10). The nine most terrifying words in the English language are… [Tweet]. https://twitter.com/evgenymorozov/status/1248659080442494976 Accessed on 17 January 2024.
• MyGov India. (2020, April 24). Aarogya Setu App | English Version [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phc1UAQQ81s&feature=emb_title Accessed on 17 January 2024.
• NHS. (n.d.). If I test positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), how does the NHS COVID-19 app alert people who I’ve been in close contact with?. COVID-19 app support. https://faq.covid19.nhs.uk/article/KA-01356/en-us?parentid=CAT-01033&rootid=. Accessed on 17 January 2024.
• Oran, D. P., & Topol, E. J. (2020). Prevalence of Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Narrative Review. Annals of Internal Medicine, 173(5), 362–367. 10.7326/M20-3012
• Polat, N. (2020). Dijital pandemi gözetimi, beden politikaları ve eşitsizlikler. Kültür ve Siyasette Feminist Yaklaşımlar, 41, 94–107.
• Privacy International. (2020, April 2). Civil Society Sound Alarm Over Unprecedented Global Wave of Surveillance in Fight Against COVID-19. Privacy International. http://privacyinternational.org/press-release/3581/civil-society-sound-alarm-over-unprecedented-global-wave-surveillance-fight
• Rahman, M. (2020, December 28). List of countries using Google and Apple’s COVID-19 Contact Tracing API. https://www.xda-developers.com/google-apple-covid-19-contact-tracing-exposure-notifications-api-app-list-countries
• Ranisch, R., Nijsingh, N., Ballantyne, A., van Bergen, A., Buyx, A., Friedrich, O., Hendl, T., Marckmann, G., Munthe, C., & Wild, V. (2020). Digital contact tracing and exposure notification: Ethical guidance for trustworthy pandemic management. Ethics and Information Technology. 10.1007/s10676-020-09566-8
• Raskar, R., Schunemann, I., Barbar, R., Vilcans, K., Gray, J., Vepakomma, P., Kapa, S., Nuzzo, AGupta, R., Berke, A., Greenwood, D., Keegan, C., Kanaparti, S., Beaudry, R., Stansbury, D., Arcila, B. B., Kanaparti, R., Pamplona, V., Benedetti, F. M., … Werner, J. (2020). Apps Gone Rogue: Maintaining Personal Privacy in an Epidemic. http://arxiv.org/abs/2003.08567
• Sharon, A. (2020, March 14). South Korea looks to tech to combat Covid-19. OpenGov Asia. https://opengovasia.com/south-korea-looks-to-tech-to-combat-covid-19
• Shevlane, T., Garfinkel, B., & Dafoe, A. (2020, April 28). Contact tracing apps can help stop coronavirus. But they can hurt privacy. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/04/28/contact-tracing-apps-can-help-stop-coronavirus-they-can-hurt-privacy
• Singer, N. (2020, July 8). Virus-Tracing Apps Are Rife With Problems. Governments Are Rushing to Fix Them. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/technology/virus-tracing-apps-privacy.html
• Sokol, S., & Staff, T. (2020, July 27). Health Ministry launches revamped COVID-19 tracking app. https://www.timesofisrael.com/health-ministry-launches-revamped-covid-19-tracking-app
• Sun, R., Wang, W., Xue, M., Tyson, G., Camtepe, S., & Ranasinghe, D. C. (2020). An Empirical Assessment of Global COVID-19 Contact Tracing Applications. http://arxiv.org/abs/2006.10933
• T.C. Sağlık Bakanlığı. (n.d.). Hayat Eve Sığar. Google Play Store. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tr.gov.saglik.hayatevesigar&hl=tr&gl=TR
• Tezcan, M. (2020, April 30). Korona günlerinde takip edeni takip edelim. Gazete Duvar. https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/teknoloji/2020/04/30/korona-gunlerinde-takip-edeni-takip-edelim
• The Wire. (2020, May 17). New Guidelines See Home Ministry Ease Up on Compulsory Use of Aarogya Setu in Offices. The Wire. https://thewire.in/government/in-new-guidelines-home-ministry-eases-up-on-compulsory-use-of-aarogya-setu-in-offices
• Tokgöz, C. (2020). COVID-19 İle Mücadelede Konumsal Gözetimin Kurumsallaşması. Kültür ve İletişim. 10.18691/kulturveiletisim.739277
• We Are Social & Hootsuite. (2020). Digital in 2020: Turkey. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-turkey
• Whitelaw, S., Mamas, M. A., Topol, E., & Van Spall, H. G. C. (2020). Applications of digital technology in COVID-19 pandemic planning and response. The Lancet Digital Health, 2(8), e435–e440. 10.1016/S2589-7500(20)30142-4
• WHO. (2020a). Digital tools for COVID-19 contact tracing: Contact tracing in the context of COVID-19. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-2019-nCoV-Contact_Tracing-Tools_Annex-2020.1
• WHO. (2020b, March 11). WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19. https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020
• WHO. (2020c, November 19). Joint Statement on Data Protection and Privacy in the COVID-19 Response. https://www.who.int/news/item/19-11-2020-joint-statement-on-data-protection-and-privacy-in-the-covid-19-response
• Woodhams, S. (2020, October 13). COVID-19 Digital Rights Tracker. https://www.top10vpn.com/research/investigations/covid-19-digital-rights-tracker
• Xue, M., Ballard, C., Liu, K., Nemelka, C., Wu, Y., Ross, K., & Qian, H. (2016). You Can Yak but You Can’t Hide: Localizing Anonymous Social Network Users. Proceedings of the 2016 Internet Measurement Conference, 25–31. 10.1145/2987443.2987449
• Zeinalipour-Yazti, D., & Claramunt, C. (2020). COVID-19 Mobile Contact Tracing Apps (MCTA): A Digital Vaccine or a Privacy Demolition? 21st IEEE International Conference on Mobile Data Management (MDM), 1–4. 10.1109/MDM48529.2020.00020
• Zhang, B., Kreps, S., McMurry, N., & McCain, R. M. (2020). Americans’ perceptions of privacy and surveillance in the COVID-19 pandemic. PLOS ONE, 15(12), e0242652. 10.1371/journal.pone.0242652