Accounting for the Costs of Contact Tracing through Social Networks

This article critically engages with Mandeville et al.'s case discussion of using social networking services for the purposes of contact tracing in infectious disease outbreaks. It will be argued that their discussion may be overstating the utility of such approaches, while simultaneously underestimating the ethical concerns that arise from this method of contact tracing. The article separates between ethical and technological concerns and suggests that due to the particular design of networking sites such as Facebook and the usage patterns of subscribers, the positive effect of contact tracing through such services may be overstated. At the same time, using social networking sites raises serious concerns regarding the privacy of patients and the ownership of information posted online.