will be remembered as a special turning point separating “Before Corona(B.C.)” and “After Corona(A.C.).”
The world had to adjust to the new normal while witnessing the limitations of the system that had functioned previously and seek new ways to overcome these limitations together.
This solidarity was especially evident in online activities that leveraged the situation as an opportunity and affected citizens' participation in social issues, including
Can invasion of GEOPRIVACY be ‘justified for ‘the greater good'' in an emergency crisis situation? Is contact tracing technology potentially justifying GEOSURVEILLANCE?
Have we defined the legal LIABILITY of the creators and distributors of crisis mapping? How can we deal with crisis mapping wherewith SPATIALLY EXPLICIT characteristics?
Why does civic hacking matter during a crisis? Civic hackers, as FIRST RESPONDERS to the global crisis in the digital world, have shown INNOVATIVE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSES.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) caused 186 confirmed cases and 38 deaths in South Korea, which was the largest number of casualties outside the Arabian Peninsula.
The revised act included requirements to promptly disclose information such as “the movement paths, transportation means, medical treatment institutions, and contacts of patients of the infectious disease” for preventing disease infection.
The outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first reported on December 31, 2019, in Wuhan, China.
KCDC confirmed the 1st case in South Korea.
KCDC started a daily briefing including disclosure of movement and places visited by confirmed cases.
Coronamap, the first Korean civic map for COVID-19, was launched.
According to a survey, 49.2 percent of the respondents said the KCDC should disclose more information on confirmed patients. Only 5.7 percent said the information disclosed was excessive.
The first case of the first mass infection was reported.
The main source of location and movement information of confirmed patients was shifted from KCDC to local governments.
This day recorded the most daily confirmed cases.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea(NHRCK) issued the 'Statement of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea on the Excessive Privacy disclosure of COVID-19 Confirmed Persons.’
KCDC announced the first edition of guidelines for disclosing movement path information of confirmed patients.
KCDC announced the second edition of guidelines for disclosing movement path information of confirmed patients.
Shifted from a social distancing campaign to a "distancing in daily life."
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The first case of the second mass infection was reported
KCDC announced the third edition of guidelines for disclosing movement path information of confirmed patients.
How did
What was the overall trend we can observe from their
was providing patients’ movement path information at the moment of the analysis, while 7 maps had previously provided the information.
were providing
were interrupted.
4 maps closed web application, 3 maps stopped updating the information.
were still running but not providing the movement path information, while 2 maps among these had previously supported the information.
Overall, despite the continuation of the coronavirus crisis,
many
1. Legal difficulties?
2. Technical difficulties?
3. Ethical difficulties?
or Others?
Although the current status of the web applications has varied, the timeline shows that there was a shared experience of interruptions in their web application and/or updates to information during the first mass infection in March.
Technical difficulties were the decisive factor that raised barriers to sustaining civic hacking projects.
Since the number of confirmed cases soared after the mass infection in March, civic hackers have begun to question how useful it is even if movement data is collected and visualized.
The most vulnerable group identified with disclosure of the location and movement path information of the confirmed patient's visit was local small business owners.
Just as the South Korean government learned lessons about
transparent and rapid disclosure of information from MERS,
we can learn lessons from the
Recent governmental movement towards formalization of privacy protection measures of open data and personal data stewardship agency opens further discussion on the role and responsibility of government and civic hackers to coproduce and comanage open data ethics in an emergency.
Civic hacking empower citizens’ capabilities and to practice their autonomy in the digital transformation of governance. Collective action led by citizens requires sustainable civic networks to shape and audit an open democratic environment.