Contact tracing is one of the latest tools that’s being developed in the global battle against Covid-19, and it’s one that many are still unsure about. While the theory behind the cutting-edge technology is solid – following the outbreak across the world using the public’s location – it’s an incredible undertaking in terms of both developer and user support. On top of this, a number of security experts have pointed out the potential dangers of contact tracing, which essentially gives companies like Google and Apple the ability to track people’s movements at all times, and even to monitor how people interact with each other.
How Contact Tracing Works
Contact tracing works by tracing individual’s whereabouts by using their smartphones or other mobile devices. The idea behind the technology is to allow companies, such as Google, the ability to trace a person at all times through their smartphone, specifically through their Bluetooth connections, meaning it shouldn’t cause any problems while playing the online slots NZ or checking the news. While it’s not a vaccine, it’s a proactive method of slowing the spread of the disease by giving health authorities the information they need to track how it’s spreading in the population.
This gives healthcare experts the chance to prioritise testing and lockdown, a task which has become vitally important in the last few months. Contact tracing does not stop infections from taking place, and it can’t be used to stop the virus from spreading through contact, but it can be a huge help to those that need help the most once they are sick. There’s a hope that contact tracing will ultimately be able to put a stop to the spread completely, allowing for global management.
Where It Will Be Found
Google has been using tracking technology for decades, and it’s at a point where the company is able to trace a few billion people at any one time. They have also announced that they will be deploying contact tracing across hundreds of countries in a bid to stave off the worst of the outbreak, and to give health officials the time they need to mobilise.
Privacy Issues
The technology has already seen use in a number of different countries, proving that it does, in fact, work as designed. Countries like the United States have seen the largest deployment of contact tracing, which is done through a user’s smartphone. Tech giants Google and Apple made history when they decided to work together to get widespread contact tracing into full gear. Both companies have promised to keep privacy as a priority, and are doing so by using Bluetooth, meaning that the user needs to enable it first.
Despite this, however, many experts fear that the measures Google and Apple have put into place aren’t quite enough to ensure privacy, with a much larger fear being that once the virus has been adequately limited around the world, many companies will continue to use contact tracing for other reason. Whether this fear will come to fruition or not remains to be seen, but the potential for mass Big Brotheresque surveillance is one the public needs to be aware of, many experts have warned.