The debate over balancing public interest and the basic human right to privacy is not new, but in recent years it has reached almost every household due to Covid-19.
In order to manage the global pandemic, there has been an onslaught of Covid-19 applications, including contact tracing and statistical data analysis tools to help identify patterns that may lead to cures or prevention measures.
Quite understandably, this has led to mixed emotions of relief and worry – relief from experts being able to collect and process data in order to curb the virus, and worry that the apps could be used to for the surveillance of people or to reveal sensitive personal data.
The development of these apps with an “accepted level of data protection” is probably the second most important Covid-19 innovation, after vaccines. The key challenge lies in ensuring information protection within these apps, and subsequently assuring society that the purpose is to trace the virus and not people.
This article describes the concept of Homomorphic encryption in relatable terms and how it can be used to achieve the much needed balance between public interest and privacy.