Enabling COVID-19 contact tracing apps that protect privacy and reduce surveillance risk

UCL Laws research led by Dr Michael Veale underpinned the rapid development of privacy-preserving contact tracing apps for smartphones, which went on to be used globally.

13 February 2023

International policy case study

Research title: Enabling COVID-19 contact tracing apps that protect privacy and reduce surveillance risk
Faculty: UCL Faculty of Laws
Activity: Research
Policy type: International cybersecurity and privacy policy
Country/Region: Europe, Africa and the Middle East, North America,nEast Asia, Latin America, South Asia, South East Asia and Australasia
Policy partner: UK Government (Home Departments), Non-UK National Governments (non-EU), Non-UK National Governments (EU)

Synopsis

UCL Laws research led by Dr Michael Veale has underpinned the rapid development of privacy-preserving contact tracing apps for smartphones. The DP-3T protocol led to 65 official national decentralised COVID-19 contact tracing apps globally and his insights convinced the UK government to abandon a centralised app for England and Wales.

International Policy Engagement

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