The imperatives of health security and the possibilities offered today by technology have made it possible to set up tracing solutions intended to monitor contacts between citizens.
Should we rejoice in such a feat?
First, let’s think together about the problems and the benefits of such systems.
The questions raised by plotting applications are numerous. There is a philosophical and moral reflection to have on such practices.
On the one hand, how to guarantee the anonymity of users who until now were protected by medical confidentiality, which is essential to guarantee trust and communication between doctors and patients.
How not to wonder about possible attempts to recover the data collected, whether by hackers or people responsible for managing this data?
How to be sure that this information will not be recovered by political people as these tracking systems will be managed s by governments?
What to do with those who have only limited access to these technologies, because of their age, their isolation, or their delay in this area?
Should we adhere to a system whose effectiveness is far from proven?
There he was not a Pandora’s box that is currently open? How to ensure that others would not see the light of day subsequently also intended to protect citizens, representing a real intrusion by the citizens?
Does n’t this tracing system have the disadvantage of creating the illusion of security and could generate a greater carelessness of those who use it?
Technical solutions have shown their effectiveness. In fact, let us remember the drop in the number of accidents caused by the massive installation of automatic speed cameras. Today, their existence is no longer questioned.
The same goes for technologies installed in transport where the installation of sensors and cameras seems to have led to better behavior on the part of users.
Faced with these proven advances, how to explain the outcry on the part of certain intellectuals whether they are French or international?
The most central question seems to be the idea with two very similar ideas: domestication or education.
Are we in an education process? This is favorable to human progress since the human dimension of the citizen is not denied.
Or are we domesticated by technology? This approach is more controversial since we are reducing our animal nature and this raises a question about the true intentions of those who set up such systems.
Indeed, we see how technology can make us slaves and completely grab our attention. Have you never been trapped in the whirlwind that social networks can often represent?
Tracking is not bad in itself insofar as it is already omnipresent in our lives: our phones communicate to GAFAM at all times our geographic position.
Geolocation poses a problem when it can be combined with coercive measures.
At first glance, geolocation offers more advantages than disadvantages. You can access the shortest routes by car, for example, or find out where the nearest pharmacy is located. What should we think now of a possible injunction to install a tracking application to access certain public services or simply take public transport?
Will we always have our real freedom to do so (download or not the application) or will we see a concept of citizenship on several levels: that of those cooperating being superior to that of recalcitrants.
Tracing is not a problem in itself: every society to the right to highlight the value that matters most to him, security or freedom, for example. The problem is that the implementation of tracking solution requires a redefinition of the companies that use it. Can we still say that France is a country of liberties if the movements of its citizens are followed down to the smallest detail by the government for reasons of health security?
It is obvious that technology improves the conformity of our societies to the rules of good manners and even to customs in some way, nevertheless, it is necessary to have a clear vision of the society to which we aspire, to organize an online referendum that makes these same technologies possible would be most judicious in this respect.
