Exploring people’s perceptions and support of data-driven technology in times of COVID-19: the role of trust, risk, and privacy concerns

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has created one of the largest medical, financial, and social disruption in history. In the fight against this virus, many European governments have turned to collecting and using online data (for various technological applications) as a key strategic remedy. This study consists of data from a national representative survey in the Netherlands focusing on the extent to which data-driven technologies from the government can count on the support of the general public. By focusing on trust perceptions, risk beliefs and privacy concerns, we introduce a typology consisting of three subgroups: the sceptical, the carefree, and the neutral respondents. It was found that each of the three groups exhibit unique demographic characteristics. In addition, findings also revealed that these three identified groups have different support levels for specific digital solutions from the government. These findings contribute to an important and timely debate and entail relevant policy implications with regard to the democratic legitimation of data-driven technologies in times of COVID-19.