Deciding If and How to Use a COVID-19 Contact Tracing App: Influences of Social Factors on Individual Use in Japan

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Contact tracing apps have been suggested as a promising approach towards containing viral spread during pandemics, yet their actual use in the COVID-19 pandemic has been low. While researchers have examined reasons for or against installing contact tracing apps, we have less understanding of their ongoing use and how they interact with everyday pressures related to work, communities, and mental well-being. Through a survey of 153 working people in Japan and 15 follow-up interviews, we investigated attitudes toward installing and using Japan's national contact tracing app, COCOA, and how these related to respondents’ daily lives, work structures, and general attitudes about the pandemic. We found that motivations about installing the app differed from those related to ongoing usage. Specifically, we identified ways that people navigate uncertain norms of behaviour during the pandemic, and how people consider individual risks such as COVID-related stigmas, anxiety, and financial precarity when deciding if and how to use COCOA. In light of these, we discuss the tension between COCOA's design and desires to protect oneself by selective controlling disclosures. We note that perceived risks are closely tied to respondents' local contexts, and based on our analysis, we identify ways to address these challenges and tensions through design interventions at multiple scales.