Seite - 573 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

573COVID-19 and Accountable Artificial Intelligence in a Global Context through thousands of research papers in order to identify the drugs that might be used to treat the disease. Google’s DeepMind4 used its AI algorithms to understand the proteins that might make up the virus. While there is no doubt that the use of artificial intelligence has been successfully accelerating medical advances, there is a concern that the use of these techniques might be seen as a panacea, and that the results produced may be used without proper testing.5 Furthermore, in the last few months, mobile applications have been developed, notably based on contact tracing tools to identify “contact” subjects and anticipate the risks of contamination6 (such as StopCovid in France, or Covi in Canada). While the effectiveness of these applications remains uncertain,7 the potential for violations of civil rights and freedoms is clear. The issues relating to privacy and the protection of sensitive health and geolocation data have been widely highlighted by protection authorities, especially under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) in Canada. Federal, provincial, and territorial privacy guardians issued a joint statement calling on governments to ensure that COVID-19 contact tracing applications respect key privacy principles.8 Beyond that, the most vulnerable parts of our population—the poor, the his- torically socially excluded—are naturally the ones most affected by the virus, as mentioned by the Ontario Human Rights Commission.9 4. R Tiernan, “Google DeepMind’s Effort on COVID-19 Coronavirus Rests on the Shoulders of Giants” (March 6, 2020), online: ZD Net <https://www.zdnet.com/ article/google-deepminds-effort-on-covid-19-coronavirus-rests-on-the-shoul- ders-of-giants>. 5. “Doctors are Using AI to Triage COVID-19 Patients. The Tools May Be Here to Stay” (23 April 2020), online: MIT  Technology  Review  <https://www.technologyre- view.com/2020/04/23/1000410/ai-triage-covid-19-patients-health-care/>. 6. Mirjam Kretzschmar, Ganna Rozhnova & Michiel van Boven, “Effectiveness of Isolation and Contact Tracing for Containment and Slowing Down a COVID-19 Epidemic: A Modelling Study” (6 March 2020), online: SSRN <https://ssrn.com/ abstract=3551343>. 7. “Show Evidence that Apps for COVID-19 Contact Tracing Are Secure and Effective” (29 April 2020), online: Nature Editorial <https://www.nature.com/ articles/d41586-020-01264>. 8. Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, News Release, “Privacy Guardians Issue Joint Statement on COVID-19 Contact Tracing Applications” (7 May 2020), online: Office  of  the  Privacy  Commissioner  of  Canada  <https://www. priv.gc.ca/en/opc-news/news-and-announcements/2020/nr-c_200507>. 9. “Actions Consistent with a Human Rights-Based Approach to Managing the COVID-19 Pandemic” (May 2020), online: Ontario  Human  Rights  Commission  <http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/actions-consistent-human-rights-based-approach- managing-covid-19-pandemic>.