A rule requiring people entering the US to submit their social media handles has been challenged by online privacy advocates. And as the pandemic stirs up surveillance concerns, Twitter and Reddit are joining the fight against the rule to show that state concerns don’t trump personal privacy.

With data-sharing enabling everything from smarter cities to more sinister surveillance, the public debate around privacy is becoming increasingly complex. Canvas8 spoke to Alisa Frik, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, to understand how people are weighing up the pay-offs.

Whether to stay connected, informed, or distracted, social media plays multiple roles in people’s day-to-day lives – and it’s proving especially useful during the COVID-19 crisis. Canvas8 polled 1,000 Britons and spoke to eight people to find out what they want from these platforms and why.

An app for self-reporting COVID-19 symptoms has found a receptive audience in the US after gaining popularity in Britain. While Americans are often protective of their privacy, when the goal of collecting data is for the common good rather than a brand's profits, they're more open to sharing.