Using Big Tech to tackle coronavirus risks swapping one lockdown for another | Adam Smith

An app that logs movements and contacts might seem like a fair trade now but we risk giving away our privacy for good

Even when the lockdown is lifted, there is no guarantee that life will ever return to normal. To prevent a future outbreak of coronavirus, the UK will need to roll out mass testing, maintain some social distancing measures and closely monitor communities to curb future flare-ups.

In pursuing that last aim, governments across the world are developing technology to track our movements. When lockdown ends, technology could be a valuable means of controlling future outbreaks, alerting people to cases of Covid-19 in their area and hopefully preventing future shutdowns.

Related: The expansion of mass surveillance to stop coronavirus should worry us all | Veena Dubal

Adam Smith is a technology reporter at the Independent