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BIG MOVE: @Apple and @Google are creating API& #39;s to permit health authorities implement & #39;Contact Tracing& #39; apps that monitor Bluetooth signals and identify whether individuals have been in contact with someone that has been infected by #COVID19
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/04/10/apple-google-tracking-coronavirus/
THREAD:">https://www.washingtonpost.com/technolog...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/04/10/apple-google-tracking-coronavirus/
THREAD:">https://www.washingtonpost.com/technolog...
In my opinion - these types of data are poor proxies for the ground truth we really seek: actual #COVID19 infection rates -- which can only be truly known by widespread testing. If we had testing in place, it would make the need to pursue these privacy-invasive techniques moot
While I suspect these tools will be framed as & #39;voluntary / opt-in& #39; -- they will eventually become compulsory once policymakers begin to rely on them in order to decide, for example, who can leave the house or who can return to work -- setting an incredibly dangerous precedent.
This is what happened in China -- where Chineses citizens needed to show their & #39;red/orange/green& #39; code before they were permitted to leave the house or to use public trans, etc https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/business/china-coronavirus-surveillance.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/0...
This type of approach is likely to generate significant FALSE POSITIVES and FALSE NEGATIVES -- which is highly problematic when this data is (eventually) used to make decisions that will affect citizen& #39;s freedoms -- voluntarily or not.
Bluetooth signals traverse walls, linking you to your neighbor even if you& #39;ve never actually been in actual physical contact (for example, in an apartment building).
Similarly, we don& #39;t necessarily carry our smartphones all the time -- for example when meeting a delivery person in front of their house, etc -- and many individuals (i.e children and the elderly) don& #39;t have smartphones.
This will lead to SIGNIFICANT false negatives.
This will lead to SIGNIFICANT false negatives.
MOST IMPORTANTLY there& #39;s a REAL risk of abuse from these apps -- generating false alarms and Denial-of-Service attacks from people falsely flagging that they& #39;re infected with COVID19 (crying & #39;wolf) -- thereby potentially affecting the others they& #39;ve digitally been in contact with
The @Google/ @Apple Privacy-Preserving Contact-Tracing API specification is here: https://www.apple.com/covid19/contacttracing/
(reading">https://www.apple.com/covid19/c... now)
(reading">https://www.apple.com/covid19/c... now)
