Opinion | Vietnam’s coronavirus app Bluezone treads grey line between safety, privacy

The relative success of Vietnam’s contact-tracing app has sparked concerns about the privacy of users

But with high public trust in the government’s Covid-19 strategy, app users are wont to give authorities the benefit of the doubt

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A woman checks her mobile phone at a street cafe in Hanoi. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 3:02pm, 24 Aug 2020Updated: 3:44pm, 24 Aug 2020

Determined to avert another widespread lockdown when another coronavirus wave hit Vietnam in late July, the authorities have swung into action to contain the spread of the virus. Ditto their alacrity to enlist public participation in downloading Bluezone, a contact-tracing app designed to detect Covid-19 exposure.

Rolled out in mid-April, Bluezone is among dozens of contact-tracing apps built globally to notify the public of any potential exposure.

Once downloaded, thanks to GPS or Bluetooth technology, these apps can access users’ personal information as well as the locations and the people they have been in contact with. Such contact histories will be shared with the authorities for the purpose of documentation.

This development is taking place against the global backdrop in which the global success of contact-tracing apps and the public trust in them have remained a major question.

Vietnam’s Bluezone is not an exception. It was launched at a time when Vietnam had almost succeeded in defeating the second wave of the pandemic, meaning the app has not got a chance to pass any smell test.

But almost right after the latest wave emerged in Vietnam, the authorities, including Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, wasted no time in calling on the public to download the app.

The target is ambitious: 50 million active users out of a population of 97 million.

Opinion | Vietnam’s coronavirus app Bluezone treads grey line between safety, privacy

The relative success of Vietnam’s contact-tracing app has sparked concerns about the privacy of users But with high public trust in the government’s Covid-19 strategy, app users are wont to give authorities the benefit of the doubt

The relative success of Vietnam’s contact-tracing app has sparked concerns about the privacy of users

But with high public trust in the government’s Covid-19 strategy, app users are wont to give authorities the benefit of the doubt