Exploring the acceptability of digital contact tracing for UK students

TL;DR

This study investigates UK students' acceptability of digital contact tracing apps for COVID-19, highlighting positive attitudes but concerns about privacy, security, and user burden through qualitative interviews.

Contribution

It provides insights into student perceptions and factors influencing acceptance of contact tracing apps, an area previously under-explored.

Findings

Students are generally positive about contact tracing apps.

Privacy and security concerns affect willingness to participate.

Perceived burden influences intended compliance.

Abstract

Contact tracing systems control the spread of disease by discovering the set of people an infectious individual has come into contact with. Students are often mobile and sociable and therefore can contribute to the spread of disease. Controls on the movement of students studying in the UK were put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic, and some restrictions may be necessary over several years. App based digital contact tracing may help ease restrictions by enabling students to make informed decisions and take precautions. However, designing for the end user acceptability of these apps remains under-explored. This study with 22 students from UK Universities (inc. 11 international students) uses a fictional user interface to prompt in-depth interviews on the acceptability of contact tracing tools. We explore intended uptake, usage and compliance with contact tracing apps, finding students are positive, although concerned about privacy, security, and burden of participating.