Mobile apps have transformed many aspects of clinical practice and are becoming a commonplace in healthcare settings. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has provided the opportunity for such apps to play an important role in reducing the spread of the virus. Several types of COVID-19 apps have enabled healthcare professionals and governments to communicate with the public regarding the pandemic spread, coronavirus awareness, and self-quarantine measures. While these apps provide immense benefits for the containment of the spread, privacy and security of these digital tracing apps are at the center of public debate. To address this gap, we conducted an online survey of a midwestern region in the United State to assess people’s attitudes toward such apps and to examine their privacy and security concerns and preferences. Survey results from 1,550 participants indicate that privacy/security protections and trust play a vital role in people’s adoption of such apps. Furthermore, results reflect users’ preferences wanting to have control over their personal information and transparency on how their data is handled. In addition, personal data protection priorities selected by the participants were surprising and yet revealing of the disconnect between technologists and users. In this article, we present our detailed survey results as well as design guidelines for app developers to develop innovative human-centered technologies that are not only functional but also respectful of social norms and protections of civil liberties. Our study examines users’ preferences for COVID-19 apps and integrates important factors of trust, willingness, and preferences in the context of app development. Through our research findings, we suggest mechanisms for designing inclusive apps’ privacy and security measures that can be put into practice for healthcare-related apps, so that timely adoption is made possible.

中文翻译：

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为移动应用程序启用以用户为中心的隐私控制

移动应用程序已经改变了临床实践的许多方面，并在医疗保健环境中变得司空见惯。最近的 COVID-19 大流行为此类应用程序在减少病毒传播方面发挥重要作用提供了机会。几种类型的 COVID-19 应用程序使医疗保健专业人员和政府能够与公众就大流行传播、冠状病毒意识和自我隔离措施进行沟通。虽然这些应用程序为遏制传播提供了巨大的好处，但这些数字追踪应用程序的隐私和安全性是公众辩论的中心。为了解决这一差距，我们对美国中西部地区进行了一项在线调查，以评估人们对此类应用程序的态度，并检查他们的隐私和安全问题以及偏好。调查结果来自 1, 550 名参与者表示，隐私/安全保护和信任在人们采用此类应用程序中发挥着至关重要的作用。此外，结果反映了用户希望控制其个人信息和数据处理方式的透明度的偏好。此外，参与者选择的个人数据保护优先事项令人惊讶，但也揭示了技术人员和用户之间的脱节。在本文中，我们展示了我们的详细调查结果以及应用程序开发人员的设计指南，以开发创新的以人为中心的技术，这些技术不仅具有功能性，而且尊重社会规范和公民自由保护。我们的研究检查了用户对 COVID-19 应用程序的偏好，并在应用程序开发的背景下整合了信任、意愿和偏好等重要因素。