Contact-Tracing Apps as Boundary Objects of Pandemic Governance: The State-by-State Approach to Contain the Spread of COVID-19 in the United States

Digital contact tracing has been claimed as imperative to controlling the spread of COVID19. However, the state-by-state approach in the United States led to divergences in contact tracing. This study analyzed contact-tracing apps as "boundary objects" through which each state worked toward the governance of the pandemic without having a formal consensus. Through media coverage and walkthrough analyses of three digital contacttracing apps in Alabama, California, and New York, we closely investigated both convergences and divergences of the apps. In the process, we located the implications of Google/Apple's Bluetooth-based exposure notification system for digital contact tracing within and beyond state boundaries. Our findings suggest that the development of apps shared the notion of an ideal contact-tracing method-exposure notification-while each state was also situated in their local experiences of the pandemic as reflected in distinct app features. We further discuss the implications of techno-solutionist standardization of such digital contact-tracing apps.