Contact Tracing Apps: MANAGING THE PANDEMIC OR ENDING PRIVACY?
The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a huge toll worldwide for both individuals and economies. As a precaution, many countries have implemented strict lockdown measures such as closing schools, restaurants and borders, while mask-wearing in public and social distancing have become a must.
The enforcement of these policies, along with the extensive testing of populations has helped to minimise infection rates. However, the pandemic’s effect on each nation’s economy has been brutal.
When an individual is found to be infected with the coronavirus, the race is on to find those who have come into contact with them, as these people could be carriers or even be infected. This has led to hundreds of coronavirus contact-tracing mobile applications being developed worldwide and backed by various governments and national health authorities, as well as guidelines by the EU and special protocols developed by the two major smart-phone OS vendors Apple & Google. In some places, the usage of such applications have been made mandatory for people who want to gain access into public spaces.
While the technology and algorithms differ between applications, the promise of most coronavirus contact tracing apps is the same:
• The ability to detect close contact between individuals (i.e. within several meters) over a period of time. The parameters differ from one application to another, but as a guideline, the time interval is about 15 minutes. Proximity, in the majority of applications, is measured using either Bluetooth or GPS technology. In the case of Bluetooth, each device broadcasts packets with some unique ID periodically, allowing other devices to monitor
