Ineffectiveness of the COVID-19 contact confirmation application

DOI Web Site
  • Mitomo Hitoshi
    Professor, Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies Waseda University

Bibliographic Information

Other Title
  • 新型コロナウイルス接触確認アプリはなぜ効果を発現できないか
  • 新型コロナウイルス接触確認アプリはなぜ効果を発現できないか : 社会アプリケーションの普及と活用における課題
  • シンガタ コロナウイルス セッショク カクニン アプリ ワ ナゼ コウカ オ ハツゲン デキナイ カ : シャカイ アプリケーション ノ フキュウ ト カツヨウ ニ オケル カダイ
  • ― Challenges in the diffusion and use of social applications
  • ―社会アプリケーションの普及と活用における課題

Search this article

Abstract

<p>Japan's COVID-19 Contact-Confirming Application (COCOA), launched on June 19, 2020, was expected to play a significant role in infectious disease control by notifying users of contact with a positive person, thereby encouraging them to change their behavior.</p><p>In order to ensure privacy, an API developed by Google and Apple was adopted to confirm contact without collecting personal information, using the Bluetooth function of smartphones. The government emphasized the social benefits of having a large number of smartphone users download the application, thus contributing to the prevention of the spread of infection. However, in reality, as of mid-September 2021, only a total of 30 million downloads have been made, and the positive registration rate is only 2.3% of all positive cases.</p><p>This paper firstly analyzes the diffusion of COCOA based on data published by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) and the possibility of elucidating the factors behind its spread. Secondly, it highlights a trade-off between privacy and ICT applications' effectiveness by referring to the Chinese contact confirmation app "Health Code" and South Korea's infected person travel route management. Thirdly, it shows that COCOA downloads are not sensitive to the spread of infection and that lack of trust has a significant impact on app adoption and positive registration, based on a questionnaire survey conducted in March 2021. </p><p>It is indicated that the app does not provide users with incentives for adoption only by emphasizing social benefits. Namely, the app's perceived benefits are too low to formulate the expected social benefits, which hinders the program's effectiveness. Underutilization of COCOA suggests that for a society to benefit from a social application, technology alone is not enough and a strategy for diffusion is needed.</p>

Journal

Keywords

Details 詳細情報について

Report a problem

Back to top