Mobile phone applications (apps) have emerged as a key part of the response to COVID-19 around the world and are a feature of UK government plans to manage the 'phase two' transition out of lockdown. While raising concerns from privacy and security to the adoption rates required for their effectiveness, initial research on COVID-19 apps has either remained abstract, been conducted in an ad hoc manner or has targeted individual apps.

This project will make a significant contribution to public and policy debates through digital methods research that will deliver a systematic empirical analysis of: 1) emerging ecologies of COVID-19 apps and their governance through app stores, and; 2) the data flows of prevalent apps within this domain.