Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the country has become more aware and appreciative of the workers now called ‘key workers’. However, organisational change and deregulation over recent years has led to high levels of job degradation in key work sectors. In this blog, Gail Hebson and Miguel Martínez Lucio introduce and present research from a range […]
Citizen’s data, healthcare and trust
Health data has informed a central part our NHS for more than two decades, helping the informative bodies to improve services and understand health trends. This has also proved key in understanding, and attempting to mitigate, the worst impacts of COVID-19. However, when this data is shared with secondary bodies, does the public trust that […]
Democracy at risk? Detecting and deterring the flow of disinformation in elections
On 21 July, Ministers published a report that found the UK Government failed to counter Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum, despite a mounting body of evidence of global efforts to use and abuse digital platforms to influence democratic outcomes. As a result, how can we be sure that what we are being told […]
#HereToDeliver: Valuing food delivery workers in the future
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore a new cadre of valued workers. And it’s not the corporate CEO or senior business leader but the delivery workers that are helping cafes and restaurants stay open (in some form) during lockdown. Cristina Inversi, Aude Cefaliello and Tony Dundon of the Work and Equalities Institute (WEI) […]
Social media and mental health: Can we trust what we’re being told?
The COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent lockdown initiated in much of the world, has highlighted the crucial role of social media in social connectivity and news dissemination. In this blog, from our publication On Digital Trust, Dr Margarita Panayiotou explores whether social media is as bad for our mental health as we are led to […]
The age of data: the death of privacy or its solution?
With increasing details of our lives being stored in digital space, how do we safeguard our data-selves? In this blog, republished from our On Digital Trust publication, Professor Mark Elliot outlines the dilemma between the value of data and the need to protect users’ privacy, and offers a solution to policymakers. Data is no longer […]
Risk in a digital age: why solutions lie in people, not just technology
As the digital and real worlds become ever-more entwined, do we really understand how people and technology interact? In this blog, republished from our On Digital Trust publication, Prof Gerard Hodgkinson explains why both person and machine should be considered when introducing and safeguarding digital infrastructure. Historically, new technologies fail to meet expectations because human […]
Privacy pitfalls in combatting coronavirus digitally: Lessons from South Korea
As the UK embarks on rolling out new digital and mobile capacities in the fight against COVID-19, other countries may serve as bellwethers for potential issues. In this blog, Dr Michael Prentice, Research Fellow in Digital Trust and Security, discusses privacy issues that arose in South Korea’s technology-driven response to the COVID-19 outbreak and how […]
Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of young people during the school closures
Following some of the latest Government announcements relating to COVID-19, the majority of children and young people will this week be getting used to not going to school. In this blog, Dr Terry Hanley discusses what this could mean for young people’s mental health and wellbeing. For years, face-to-face support has been the primary […]
Profiting from pandemics: COVID-19, changing routines and cyber crimes
The COVID-19 crisis is driving changes in the routines of institutions and individuals, as businesses, educational institutions and other organisations recommend or require employees to engage in social distancing in a collective attempt to minimise the spread of the virus. As well as having global socioeconomic effects, these changes in routine create opportunities for crimes. […]