COVID-19 Mobile Apps for Contact Tracing: A Review on Technology, Privacy and User Opinions

BACKGROUND: Many countries across the globe have released their COVID-19 contact tracing application This has resulted in the proliferation of several applications that used a variety of technologies With the absence of a standardized approach used by the authorities, policymakers, and developers, many of these applications were unique Therefore, they varied by function and the underlying technology used for contact tracing and infection reporting OBJECTIVE: This study analyses most of the COVID-19 contact tracing apps in use today Beyond investigating the privacy features, design, and implications of these apps, this research examines the underlying technologies used in contact tracing applications It also attempts to provide some insights into their level of penetration and gauge their public reception The research also investigated the data collection, reporting, retention, and destruction procedures used by each of the applications under review METHODS: The research sampled 13 applications corresponding to 10 countries based on the underlying technology used The inclusion criteria ensured that most COVID-19 declared Epicentre (countries) were included in the sample, such as Italy The sampled apps also included countries that relatively did well in controlling the outbreak of COVID-19 such as Singapore Informational and un-official contact tracing apps were excluded from this study 30,000 reviews corresponding to the 13 apps were scrapped and analysed RESULTS: The study identified seven distinct technologies used by COVID-19 tracing applications and 13 distinct applications The USA was reported to release the most contact tracing applications, followed by Italy Bluetooth was the most frequently used underlying technology, employed by 7 applications, whereas 3 applications used GPS The Norwegian, Singaporean, Georgian, and New Zealand apps were amongst the applications that collected the most of the users' personal information whereas some applications such as the Swiss and the Italian (Immuni) apps didn't collect any users' information The observed minimum implemented in most of the apps with regards to data destruction was 14 days, while the Georgian app retained records for 3 years No significant battery drainage issue was reported for most of the apps Interestingly, only about 2% of the reviewers expressed concerns about their privacy across all apps The number and frequency of technical issues reported on the app store were significantly more than those reported on Google play The highest was the New Zealand app with 27% of the reviewers reporting technical difficulties (10% out of 27% scrapped reviews reported that the app did not work) The Norwegian, Swiss apps and the USA app (PathCheck) had the least reported technical issues sitting at just below 10% In terms of usability, many applications such as the Singaporean, the Australian, and the Swiss apps did not provide the users with an option to sign out from their applications CONCLUSIONS: This article highlighted that COVID-19 contact tracing apps are still facing many obstacles towards their widespread and public acceptance The main challenges are related to the technical, usability and privacy issues or requirements reported by some users