The COVID-19 and the "European Solution" of Data-based Approach to Governance: Public Security or Data Protection?

To cope with the challenges of COVID-19, Europe has adopted relevant measures of a data-based approach to governance, on which scholars have huge differences, and the related research- es are conducive to further discussion on the differences. By sorting out the challenges posed by the pandemic to public security and data protection in Europe, we can summarize the "European Solution" of the data-based approach to governance, including legislation, instru- ments, supervision, international cooperation, and continuity. The "Solution" has curbed the spread of the pandemic to a certain extent. However, due to the influence of the traditional values of the EU, the "Solution" is too idealistic in the balance between public security and data protection, which intensifies the dilemma and causes many problems, such as ambiguous legislation, inadequate effectiveness and security of instruments, an arduous endeavor in inter-national cooper- ation, and imperfect regulations on digital green certificates. There- fore, in a major public health crisis, there is still a long way to go in exploring a balance between public security and data protection.