Pandemics in a Connected World

Abstract

The tragedy of the Ebola pandemic illustrates and confirms the need for information sharing in a coordinated pandemic response. However, high-profile cases reported in the news media, videos of sick, dying, or orphaned individuals in highly intimate and tragic situations as well as public health news conferences and hospital statements have brought to light the privacy implications of pandemic news reporting and public health intervention measures. This article contributes to the ongoing legal, ethical, and social debate regarding the role, if any, to afford to personal privacy in an effective, globalized, and electronic public health surveillance system and pandemic response. Our working assumption is that there should be a role. However, privacy governance frameworks are, at best, incomplete in ensuring effective and protective use of personal information in pandemics response.