What we’ve learned about Americans’ views of technology during the time of COVID-19

Over the course of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, Pew Research Center has studied Americans’ attitudes about the role and effectiveness of various technologies and their views about digital privacy and data collection as it relates to the pandemic. Here is what we found:

• The internet has been an important part of Americans’ lives

• Dependence on the internet and mobile phones raised concerns about affordability

• The pandemic highlighted concerns about the digital divide due to school closures and the shift to online learning

• Some Americans were dubious about the effectiveness of technology for tracking the coronavirus and lacked confidence in others to keep their personal records safe