Privacy during epidemic of COVID-19: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract

1,226 articles on privacy and COVID-19 were published by authors from 69 countries in this year's issue. COVID 19's privacy is now the focus of many researchers' attention. The present body of knowledge on privacy for COVID-19 digital technologies has been thoroughly analyzed, and a concise overview of research status and future developments can be gleaned. This paper conducted a bibliometric examination of privacy using the Scopus dataset. Utilizing VOSviewer software, the relevant literature papers published on this topic were examined to determine the field's development history, research hotspots, and future directions. Over time, there has been a rise in the number of studies published in privacy for COVID-19, particularly after 2020, and the growth rate has been steadily increasing. Regarding published research, the United States and China lead the pack. These articles appeared in primarily English-language journals and conference proceedings. Privacy and COVID-19 research was mostly computer science. The most used terms in privacy and COVID-19 were data privacy and humans. This paper examines the evolution of privacy and COVID-19 research and indicates current research priorities and future research goals. Furthermore, the privacy and COVID-19 study seem to be a promising sphere as this study identifies 26 domains.