Privacy Concerns of Contact Tracing Apps: An Analysis with the APCO Model

With the increasing number of COVID-19 infections, the Dutch and German governments reacted by implementing contact tracing apps. Although the privacy of citizens using tracing apps is guaranteed by technological solutions, previous research indicates privacy concerns among citizens. The predicting factors for privacy concerns have so far been determined in the context of e-commerce and social networking. The new context of a pandemic and governments being in the role of tracing app-providers lead to a need for new research. This research introduces a modified APCO model with trust in government as a new predictor to identify the factors influencing privacy concerns. After conducting a standardized survey with 64 participants, it is shown that computer anxiety and trust in government influence privacy concerns regarding the contact tracing app. Furthermore, higher privacy concerns have a negative effect on the intention to accept the privacy of the contact tracing app.