What motivates people to download and use COVIDSafe?
What motivates people to download and use the COVIDSafe app?
Seth Lazar (contributing author, lead author Genevieve Bell)
Rapid Research Information Forum
The Rapid Research Information Forum, chaired by the Chief Scientist and organised by the Australian Academy of Science, submitted a background research document to the Minister for Health. The Lead Author was Professor Genevieve Bell, AO. Seth Lazar was one of seven other contributing authors. The key findings were as follows:
Since launching on 26 April 2020, 5.7 million Australians have downloaded COVIDSafe, the fastest uptake of any app in Australian history (as at 15 May).
As a digital aid to manual contact tracing, COVIDSafe offers a potentially valuable supplement to protecting public health in an ongoing epidemic. Similar apps are in use globally.
Collective and societal wellbeing are strong motivators for uptake of COVIDSafe, as is the ability to exercise individual choice and control, including to permanently delete the app and its data.
Potential barriers to the uptake of COVIDSafe include access, language, trust in government, privacy concerns, and reliability of the technology.
The motivation to continue use of COVIDSafe will rely on addressing the above potential barriers as well as demonstrating a positive impact on contact tracing, confidence in government management of further outbreaks, transparency, and effective messaging from community leaders.
The success of COVIDSafe will ultimately be measured by the number of positive cases identified and quarantined because of the app and its contribution to containing community spread as lockdown restrictions are relaxed.