How COVID-19 Shaped Trust in Digital Health Data: Diverging Perspectives of Liberals and Conservatives

Between 2020 and 2022, people’s trust in the federal government’s ability to manage digital health data changed. Politically liberal respondents grew more confident, while conservative respondents became less so. This shift may be linked to health agencies being in the spotlight during events like the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 elections, according to a recent study.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania looked at survey results from July 2020 and June 2022. They asked participants about their trust in 16 organizations, both public and private, regarding how responsibly they use digital health data. The participants were selected from the Ipsos KnowledgePanel.

According to the study, the use and protection of health care data are mainly regulated by existing laws. However, there aren’t similar rules for data collected from consumer sources, like wearable devices and health apps. In their 2020 survey, the researchers found that people trusted clinical organizations and public institutions more than digital health companies to handle their data responsibly.

By 2022, most of the 1,851 respondents expressed some level of confidence in organizations like physician offices, university hospitals, the CDC, and the NIH. Interestingly, while overall trust in the CDC and NIH declined slightly from 2020, trust in the federal government and companies like FitBit grew. For example, confidence in the federal government increased by 6.1%.

Liberal respondents showed the highest confidence levels in healthcare organizations. In both 2020 and 2022, around 84% trusted physician offices, while trust in the CDC and NIH was around 80% and 77%, respectively. On the other hand, trust in Facebook was notably low, with only 14% of liberals expressing confidence in it in both years.

Conservative participants showed similar trends, mostly trusting physician offices (74% in 2020 vs 73% in 2022) and university hospitals (58% vs 59%). Their view of companies like Facebook and Google remained low, with trust levels sitting at 12% and 22%, respectively.

In terms of change over time, liberals and moderates reported a significant increase in confidence toward the federal government—13% for liberals and 9% for moderates. Conversely, conservatives reported a notable drop in confidence concerning the CDC, NIH, and the federal government.

This study highlights how political polarization affects public trust in the organizations handling digital health data. Understanding these shifts is crucial for creating effective digital privacy legislation. The researchers noted that while overall confidence remained steady from 2020 to 2022, the gap between liberal and conservative respondents widened. This change reflects the significant impact of health agency visibility during the pandemic and the political climate during the 2020 elections.

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