With the ongoing popularity of the Aarogya Setu app launched by the Indian government, focus has shifted to digital contract tracing mechanisms and how it is useful in pandemics. Regardless of countries’ differing approaches, the goal is the same: virtual surveillance that keeps them updated on the Covid-19 live data. But are agencies tracking more than just location data? Where should the line be drawn to protect a user’s privacy? Should there be a shared standard of transparency?
Crux of the Matter
Evolution of Digital Tracking 1996-2000s: GSM Triangulation (Global System for Mobile Communications) is a method by which the location of a radio transmitter can be determined by measuring either the radial distance, or the direction of the received signal from two or three different points for locating a regular mobile phone. Before GPS, this was used to find location of a user.
2006-2010s: The GPS (Global Positioning System) is a radio-navigation system formed from a group of satellites and ground stations. It was initially designed for military use and controlled by the US Department of Defense, but now civilian users are able to use the system without any restrictions. For smartphone users, GPS helps in finding stolen/lost devices and assists in map navigation while travelling.
2015- 2020s: A new tracking technology called bluetooth mesh tracking was launched by startups like Tile, Trackr and Stick-n-find to help smartphone users keep a track of important items like a briefcase or home keys by using bluetooth. This mechanism uses a node that has the newest information about the whereabouts of the user’s belongings. So the strongest signal would be closest to the location of the user’s car keys.
Installing the #AarogyaSetu tracking app on your phone is now a condition for millions of employees to enter office premises, work from home, register attendance & in some cases get paid. I tracked how 49 companies enforce the download + what employees did https://t.co/vycVFAT0JJ — Rohini Mohan (@rohini_mohan) May 14, 2020
Then with the onset of COVID-19, a need to keep track of coronavirus cases on an accurate, minute by minute basis started and contract tracing applications like India’s Aarogya Setu and Mexico’s CovidRadar were launched by the authorities globally.
Stick-N-Find —bluetooth stickers you place on items, then … – #tech #technology #technews https://t.co/8dMpaQlhHG pic.twitter.com/zEgQKCkKVN — Tech Journal (@TechJournal1) June 30, 2016
Covid Contact Tracing Apps By Various Countries The MIT Technology Review has launched a database to track 25 significant automated contact-tracing systems around the world. These are mapping apps that can track the movements of infected people, ones that can be used to monitor people in domestic quarantine, and smart city tracing systems that allow health authorities investigators to track the mobility of confirmed infected people by using surveillance cameras and credit card transactions.
South Korean way: Private-public partnership for digital monitoring When the government in different parts of the world made data on COVID-19 patients freely available on their respective public portals, developers from the private sector immediately used them to program smartphone apps with their skills and expertise.
Europen way: New standard sought for data protection Relying on voluntary use, the Europeans want to record the proximity and duration of contact between people for a limited period of time and remain completely anonymous without location detection. Over 30 organizations currently seek to comply with German and European data protection laws, like Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PPEP-PT) that conforms to EU data protection regulations and can be used beyond national borders.
A 17-year-old built one of the most popular coronavirus-tracking websites in the world, with over 30 million visitors a day. He explains why he turned down $8 million to put ads on his site. https://t.co/49YDiboCFs — Business Insider (@businessinsider) May 14, 2020
Chinese way: Maintain quarantine decorum China’s tracking mechanisms are being used by the local police to detect those breaking quarantine rules. Hosted by their largest tech companies: Alibaba Group, Tencent Holdings, and Baidu Inc., their apps gather a wide range of specifications like the identity of citizens, real time locations, and online payment records.
Volunteers’ way: Non-profit projects A volunteer team consisting of researchers and developers created ‘How We Feel’ application that enables the users to check in daily and report any new information regarding the COVID-19 in their vicinity, without the need for signup and only linked to the area zip-code.
It does not matter if you are healthy or sick. 🤒 Every time you check-in you are providing data that helps doctors, scientists & public health officials make decisions to help fight #COVID19. Download, share & check-in today: https://t.co/MyoJww5upk — The How We Feel Project (@HowWeFeel) May 19, 2020
Calling Devices Or Spy Devices? A group of researchers from Northeastern University’s Cybersecurity department installed general apps that weren’t designed to need a location tracking feature like a flashlight or contact app.
However even when GPS is turned off by the user, inbuilt phone sensors are always activated including an accelerometer, that tracks how fast a phone is moving, a magnetometer, that works like a digital compass, and a gyroscope, that tracks rotation.
Thus the survey found that it was able to track those test subjects using just phone sensors, which points to such companies having access to the users’ location without their permission.
Fundamentally, consumers have very few tools and cues that they can use to reasonably control their privacy and make decisions about it. Thousands of Android apps can track your phone — even if you deny permissions https://t.co/2UBdcxRPAN via @Verge — Randall French (@RandallFrench14) July 8, 2019
So How To Track Users Without Violating Their Privacy? When authorities recognize flattening of the curve of infection, reopening parts of society is a necessary step to revive the economy and in turn people’s daily lives. For Covid-19, a quick mechanism needed to be designed at the peak of the pandemic. However, in times ahead, the “test and trace” schemes can be implemented in a way that gives the desired output data while respecting user’s privacy.
#Apple and #Google are developing a coronavirus #ContactTracing app, with decentralised architecture that would enable smartphone users to control their own data, and choose whether to notify the authorities if they have been exposed to the #coronavirus. https://t.co/iFFJqaHXFe — Deccan Chronicle (@DeccanChronicle) May 20, 2020
Along with Coronavirus response plan, measures like social distancing, wide-scale testing, and isolating sick individuals, digital tracking app would be a part of the new normal if the users’ trust is established in them. Since no software is built in a day, other companies can build their own version of surveillance prototypes and keep it optional for the users to download and use or can form a group of dedicated beta testers.
Coronavirus Spy Apps: Israel Joins Iran And China Tracking Citizens’ Smartphones To Fight COVID-19 https://t.co/1vde3FLyht — The Cyber Security Hub™ (@TheCyberSecHub) March 15, 2020
Curiopedia
The GPS project was started by the U.S. Department of Defense in 1973, with the first prototype spacecraft launched in 1978 and the full constellation of 24 satellites operational in 1993. Originally limited to use by the United States military, civilian use was allowed from the 1980s following an executive order from President Ronald Reagan.
When Pakistani troops took positions in Kargil in 1999, one of the first things the Indian military sought was a global positioning system (GPS) data for the region. The space-based navigation system maintained by the US government would have provided vital information, but the US denied it to India.
The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), with an operational name of NavIC (an acronym for Navigation with Indian Constellation; also, nāvik means ‘sailor’ or ‘navigator’ in Sanskrit), is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system that provides accurate real-time positioning and timing services. It covers India and a region extending 1,500 km around it.
Curated Coverage
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