COVID-19 pandemic

==== Contact tracing ====
{{See also|Use and development of software for COVID-19 pandemic mitigation|Public health mitigation of COVID-19#Information technology}}

[[Contact tracing]] attempts to identify recent contacts of newly infected individuals, and to screen them for infection; the traditional approach is to request a list of contacts from infectees, and then telephone or visit the contacts.<ref name="web" /> Contact tracing was widely used during the [[Western African Ebola virus epidemic]] in 2014.<ref>{{#invoke:cite journal ||last1=Webb |first1=Glenn |last2=Browne |first2=Cameron |last3=Huo |first3=Xi |last4=Seydi |first4=Ousmane |last5=Seydi |first5=Moussa |last6=Magal |first6=Pierre |title=A model of the 2014 ebola epidemic in west Africa with contact tracing |journal=PLOS Currents |date=30 January 2015 |volume=7 |pages=ecurrents.outbreaks.846b2a31ef37018b7d1126a9c8adf22a |doi=10.1371/currents.outbreaks.846b2a31ef37018b7d1126a9c8adf22a |doi-broken-date=31 January 2024 |pmid=25685636 |pmc=4323422 |issn=2157-3999 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Another approach is to collect location data from mobile devices to identify those who have come in significant contact with infectees, which prompted privacy concerns.<ref name="IngramWard20200407">{{#invoke:cite web||date=7 April 2020|title=Behind the global efforts to make a privacy-first coronavirus tracking app|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/behind-global-efforts-make-privacy-first-coronavirus-tracking-app-n1177871|access-date=10 April 2020|publisher=NBC News|vauthors=Ingram D, Ward J}}</ref> On 10 April 2020, Google and [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] announced an initiative for privacy-preserving contact tracing.<ref name="0DF25">{{#invoke:cite web || url=https://social.techcrunch.com/2020/04/10/apple-and-google-are-launching-a-joint-covid-19-tracing-tool/ |title=Apple and Google are launching a joint COVID-19 tracing tool for iOS and Android |website=TechCrunch |date=10 April 2020 |access-date=10 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="20200410apple">{{#invoke:cite web || url=https://www.apple.com/covid19/contacttracing/ |title=Privacy-Preserving Contact Tracing |date=10 April 2020 |website=Apple }}</ref> In Europe and in the US, [[Palantir Technologies]] initially provided COVID-19 tracking services.<ref name="0k3hR">{{#invoke:cite news ||title=Palantir provides COVID-19 tracking software to CDC and NHS, pitches European health agencies |url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/01/palantir-coronavirus-cdc-nhs-gotham-foundry/ |access-date=22 April 2020 |work=TechCrunch}}</ref>