Will COVID-19 Claim Privacy Among Its Victims?
4 years, 8 months ago

Will COVID-19 Claim Privacy Among Its Victims?

Slate  

This article is part of Privacy in the Pandemic, a Future Tense series. While surveillance tools can range from individual contact tracking to aggregate tracking, “none are truly anonymous because public health can’t be,” said Gidari. Gidari was part of Thursday’s Future Tense web event “Will COVID-19 Claim Privacy Among its Victims?” Gidari was joined by Kathryn Waldron, a resident fellow in national Security and cybersecurity at the R Street Institute, and Jennifer Daskal, a professor at American University Washington College of Law and faculty director of the law school’s Tech, Law, & Security Program. Waldron said that any effort to track the virus with technology depends on both a significant number of the population to “buy into” tracking apps, but these apps could work only with widespread testing, which has yet to arrive in the U.S. Gidari echoed that idea and also noted that opting into tracking would have to be voluntary. Heightened surveillance during COVID-19 is alarming and demands nuanced debate, but Gidari doesn’t think this is the death of privacy: “At the end of the day, privacy is going to be just as important coming out of this as coming into it.” Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.

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History of this topic

Google and Apple join hands to help users know if they are being tracked by someone
7 months, 3 weeks ago

Google and Apple join hands to help users know if they are being tracked by someone

India Today  

Google and Apple, the two tech giants often seen as competitors, have joined forces to address a common concern: unwanted location tracking. The companies have collaborated to develop an industry specification called "Detecting Unwanted Location Trackers" for Bluetooth tracking devices. So, to address this, Google and Apple have collaborated to create a standardised method for detecting and alerting users about …

Apple and Google join hands for common good, will work to defeat trackers and stalkers
1 year, 8 months ago

Apple and Google join hands for common good, will work to defeat trackers and stalkers

India Today  

Apple and Google are working together to fight against people who use tracking devices like AirTags to stalk or track others without their permission. “Apple launched AirTag to give users the peace of mind knowing where to find their most important items.We built AirTag and the Find My network with a set of proactive features to discourage unwanted tracking — …

Apple and Google launches an initiative to restrict unwanted tracking
1 year, 8 months ago

Apple and Google launches an initiative to restrict unwanted tracking

India TV News  

Apple and Google said that they have jointly submitted an industry specification to help combat the misuse of Bluetooth location-tracking devices for unwanted tracking. He further added, "This new industry specification builds upon the AirTag protections, and through collaboration with Google results in a critical step forward to help combat unwanted tracking across iOS and Android." The specification has been …

Public urged to work with contact tracing teams over Christmas period
3 years ago

Public urged to work with contact tracing teams over Christmas period

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy People who test positive for Covid-19 over Christmas have been …

Apple, Google's COVID-19 tracing tech saved thousands of lives in UK, about time India gets it too
3 years, 7 months ago

Apple, Google's COVID-19 tracing tech saved thousands of lives in UK, about time India gets it too

India Today  

Apple and Google joined hands to develop the Exposure Notifications System to contact trace and alert users about possible COVID-19 exposure. Now a report has claimed that the contact tracing tech has saved lives of between 4,200 and 8,700 users in the UK. “Our analysis suggests a large number of COVID-19 cases were averted by contact tracing via the NHS …

Google Covid-19 Contact Tracing App Flaw Could Leak Sensitive Health Data: Report
3 years, 8 months ago

Google Covid-19 Contact Tracing App Flaw Could Leak Sensitive Health Data: Report

News 18  

Google, in a rare turn of events, joined hands with fellow big tech firm Apple to bring forth a privacy focused Covid-19 contact tracing effort at the height of the pandemic’s breakout in 2020. The report, coming from The Markup in partnership with the founders of mobile privacy analysis firm AppCensus, states a one-line flaw in the Google Covid-19 contact …

Fine-tuning the State-of-the-app technology
3 years, 11 months ago

Fine-tuning the State-of-the-app technology

The Hindu  

On January 13 this year, subscribers of English newspapers in India woke up to full-page Platforms and COVID-19 The issue of privacy is crucial for government technology platforms and services as governments typically have a monopoly in providing public services, unlike the private sector. An assessment of the 35 mobile applications revealed that 17 mobile apps provide information on COVID-19 …

California’s new contact-tracing app: What you need to know
4 years, 1 month ago

California’s new contact-tracing app: What you need to know

LA Times  

Gavin Newsom has announced a voluntary smartphone app to alert people if they were in close contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus. Called CA Notify, the app relies on a tech framework created by Apple and Google that uses Apple and Android phones’ short-range Bluetooth radios to determine when two devices have been near one another for …

Spam calls are hindering efforts to contact trace and track Covid-19
4 years, 3 months ago

Spam calls are hindering efforts to contact trace and track Covid-19

CNN  

CNN — Nine months into a pandemic that has killed 210,000 people in the United States, health officials are imploring residents to answer their phones. “If contact tracers do not hear back, a text message will be sent with a home visit time and date, and visits may be conducted without confirmation,” the health officials said. About 60% of contact …

As Europe faces 2nd wave of virus, tracing apps lack impact
4 years, 3 months ago

As Europe faces 2nd wave of virus, tracing apps lack impact

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Mobile apps tracing new COVID-19 …

L.A. has a new COVID-19 contact tracing app from a controversial source
4 years, 3 months ago

L.A. has a new COVID-19 contact tracing app from a controversial source

LA Times  

Since the COVID-19 pandemic first came to Los Angeles in the spring, the county Department of Public Health has hired nearly 2,600 people to do the manual work of contact tracing: asking people who test positive for the coronavirus to list everywhere they’ve been and everyone they’ve seen in recent days, then tracking down anyone they’ve encountered and testing them …

Why Contact-Tracing Apps Haven’t Slowed Covid-19 in the US
4 years, 4 months ago

Why Contact-Tracing Apps Haven’t Slowed Covid-19 in the US

Wired  

As Covid-19 spread across the United States this spring, Jodie Pond, the health director in Teton County, Wyoming, looked forward to deploying a new weapon against the pandemic. A smartphone app would help her small team of contact tracers find people exposed to the virus more quickly. So in July, when Covid-19 cases in the county spiked, Pond’s small department …

Contact Tracing Apps May Be Ineffective in Reducing Covid-19 Spread: Study
4 years, 4 months ago

Contact Tracing Apps May Be Ineffective in Reducing Covid-19 Spread: Study

News 18  

Contact tracing apps are unlikely to contain the spread of COVID-19 without proper public health control measures such as physical distancing and closure of indoor spaces, according to a review of studies. "Across a number of modelling studies, we found a consistent picture that although automated contact tracing could support manual contact tracing, the systems will require large-scale uptake by …

UK Begins Testing a New App to Fight Covid-19 Spread
4 years, 4 months ago

UK Begins Testing a New App to Fight Covid-19 Spread

News 18  

Britain started testing a new smartphone app Thursday to help people find out whether they've been close to someone infected with COVID-19 after security concerns torpedoed an earlier effort to use technology to track the disease. The Department of Health and Social Care said that trials of the app began on the Isle of Wight, with testing in the London …

How does COVIDSafe compare to Europe's contact tracing apps?
4 years, 5 months ago

How does COVIDSafe compare to Europe's contact tracing apps?

ABC  

COVIDSafe was sold as Australia's ticket out of lockdown. And although we do not yet have sufficient empirical data comparing the performance of available models, she suggested it's likely apps built using the Google-Apple framework will work more reliably than COVIDSafe because the Bluetooth detection technique is built into the devices' operating systems. But there is also concern in Europe …

Conspiracy theories debunked: Here’s what COVID contact tracers really do
4 years, 5 months ago

Conspiracy theories debunked: Here’s what COVID contact tracers really do

Salon  

In the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic, contact tracing is downright buzzy, and not always in a good way. Misinformation abounds, from tales that people who talk to contact tracers will be sent to nonexistent "FEMA camps" — a rumor so prevalent that health officials in Washington state had to put out a statement in May debunking it — to …

UK claims to work on hybrid contact-tracing app with Apple, not aware says latter
4 years, 6 months ago

UK claims to work on hybrid contact-tracing app with Apple, not aware says latter

India Today  

Days after the UK abandoned its organic contact-tracing app by the National Health Service and announced that it would work with tech giants Apple and Google to work on a hybrid app, Apple has said it is completely unaware of any such app. In the backdrop of COVID 19 with contact-tracing apps becoming a part of the new normal, Apple …

Coronavirus UK: Tracking app dropped for Apple and Google tech
4 years, 6 months ago

Coronavirus UK: Tracking app dropped for Apple and Google tech

Daily Mail  

Matt Hancock tonight insisted Britain will eventually get a Covid-19 tracking app that works after ministers abandoned NHS-made technology following its failure in a trial on the Isle of Wight. Baroness Dido Harding, who is in charge of test and trace, today revealed the NHS's app did not work on iPhones The app developed by the NHS didn't work for …

Privacy fears over COVID apps by Bahrain, Kuwait, Norway
4 years, 6 months ago

Privacy fears over COVID apps by Bahrain, Kuwait, Norway

Al Jazeera  

Live tracking of users’ locations puts thousands of people at risk, Amnesty International says. Amnesty International has raised privacy and security concerns over “invasive” contact-tracing apps rolled out by Bahrain, Kuwait and Norway to fight the coronavirus pandemic. The UK-based rights group said on Tuesday an investigation into COVID-19 apps being used by 11 countries had rated Bahrain’s “BeAware Bahrain”, …

Coronavirus: Government’s contact tracing app could ‘exacerbate health inequalities’
4 years, 7 months ago

Coronavirus: Government’s contact tracing app could ‘exacerbate health inequalities’

The Independent  

Only half of manual workers, the unemployed and state pensioners say they will download the government’s contact tracing app, according to a new survey, sparking fresh concerns that the system could exacerbate health inequalities. Adam Steventon, director of data analytics at the Health Foundation, said: “The NHS contact tracing app could play a critical role in the fight against Covid-19, …

Coronavirus tracking app code unveiled; final version to come next month
4 years, 7 months ago

Coronavirus tracking app code unveiled; final version to come next month

NL Times  

A beta version of the government-backed coronavirus tracking app has has been released to the public on Wednesday, with the final product being expected sometime in June, Minister of Health Hugo de Jonge confirmed on Wednesday. This follows nearly a month on from the government's appointment of a team of experienced developers to design the app, with the final product …

Canada to ramp up COVID-19 testing and tracing, working closely with Apple, Google on mobile app
4 years, 7 months ago

Canada to ramp up COVID-19 testing and tracing, working closely with Apple, Google on mobile app

Firstpost  

Canada’s total cases rose to 81,765 on Friday, and deaths were up less than 2 percent to 6,180. Canada will ramp up COVID-19 testing and contact tracing as it gradually lifts restrictions and is working closely with Apple and Google on a mobile phone app to help, the prime minister said on Friday. In his daily news conference, Prime Minister …

The Apple-Google Contact Tracing System Won’t Work. It Still Deserves Praise.
4 years, 7 months ago

The Apple-Google Contact Tracing System Won’t Work. It Still Deserves Praise.

Slate  

This article is part of Privacy in the Pandemic, a Future Tense series. In Europe, countries like France and the United Kingdom are pushing for aggressive digital contact tracing efforts that involve government collection of broad new caches of location data. With respect to digital contact tracing, success depends on at least four factors—four factors that suggest the Apple and …

UK's COVID-19 tracking system under fire amid warning of second wave of Coronavirus outbreak
4 years, 7 months ago

UK's COVID-19 tracking system under fire amid warning of second wave of Coronavirus outbreak

Firstpost  

PM Boris Johnson said a “world-beating” program for tracing those suspected to be infected by COVID-19, would be in place by 1 June. Britain’s system for tracing those with the novel coronavirus was under fire on Thursday as it grappled with the development of a tracking app and health workers warned the government that unless there was clarity it could …

Apple and Google share contact tracing technology that can help fight coronvirus
4 years, 7 months ago

Apple and Google share contact tracing technology that can help fight coronvirus

India Today  

Authorities in 23 countries across five continents have sought access to contact tracing technology from Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google, the companies announced on Wednesday as they released the initial version of their system, as reported by Reuters. But authorities would have to stop requiring phone numbers from users under the companies’ rules, one of several restrictions that have …

Google and Apple release technology to help with coronavirus contact tracing
4 years, 7 months ago

Google and Apple release technology to help with coronavirus contact tracing

ABC  

New technology that could help alert people who have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 is being tested to determine if it will work in Australia. Key points: Technology could help solve issues plaguing apps like COVIDSafe Technology could help solve issues plaguing apps like COVIDSafe App users who test positive would decide to notify people they …

How Effective Are Contact Tracing Apps?
4 years, 7 months ago

How Effective Are Contact Tracing Apps?

Slate  

This article is part of Privacy in the Pandemic, a Future Tense series. But we still don’t really know how effective contact tracing apps actually are—particularly in societies that don’t already have a vast surveillance infrastructure. Iceland’s success in managing COVID-19 might instead be attributed to other factors, including the country’s early testing of high-risk individuals before it even confirmed …

Surveillance system or Covid-19 tracker? Coronavirus tracing Aarogya Setu app raises privacy concerns in India
4 years, 8 months ago

Surveillance system or Covid-19 tracker? Coronavirus tracing Aarogya Setu app raises privacy concerns in India

Hindustan Times  

As India enters an extended coronavirus lockdown, the government is actively pursuing contact tracing to help control infections. In this Thursday, May 7, 2020 photo, an Indian man uses Aarogya Setu app on his mobile phone in New Delhi, India. In April, India launched the Aarogya Setu app, which helps people identify whether they have been near someone who tested …

With COVID-19 tracing apps comes privacy tradeoffs: Here's why you should be worried
4 years, 8 months ago

With COVID-19 tracing apps comes privacy tradeoffs: Here's why you should be worried

India TV News  

As governments around the world consider how to monitor new coronavirus outbreaks while reopening their societies, many are starting to bet on smartphone apps to help stanch the pandemic. “Governments and public health want to be able to track people” to minimize the spread of COVID-19, but people are less likely to download a voluntary app if it is intrusive, …

Here come COVID-19 tracing apps - and privacy trade-offs
4 years, 8 months ago

Here come COVID-19 tracing apps - and privacy trade-offs

Associated Press  

As governments around the world consider how to monitor new coronavirus outbreaks while reopening their societies, many are starting to bet on smartphone apps to help stanch the pandemic. “Governments and public health want to be able to track people” to minimize the spread of COVID-19, but people are less likely to download a voluntary app if it is intrusive, …

Coronavirus contact-tracing app could make 'privacy and rights another casualty of the virus', campaigners warn
4 years, 8 months ago

Coronavirus contact-tracing app could make 'privacy and rights another casualty of the virus', campaigners warn

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The coronavirus contact-tracing app could make the UK's privacy "another casualty" of the …

Apple and Google show what their contact tracing system could look like
4 years, 8 months ago

Apple and Google show what their contact tracing system could look like

CNN  

San Francisco CNN Business — Apple and Google just provided a first look at how public health apps could use the coronavirus contact tracing software they are jointly developing. The two tech companies shared a series of images and guidelines on Monday for governments and public health authorities to integrate with their contact tracing apps, including how users will be …

UK testing coronavirus contact tracing app on Isle of Wight
4 years, 8 months ago

UK testing coronavirus contact tracing app on Isle of Wight

CNN  

London CNN Business — The UK government launched its first test of a coronavirus contact tracing appthis week on a small island off the south coast of England. The app, which was developed by the digital technology unit of the National Health Service, will also upload information to a central database to help public health experts study the behavior of …

Majority would use a coronavirus tracing app, research shows
4 years, 8 months ago

Majority would use a coronavirus tracing app, research shows

Dutch News  

Over half the Dutch would be prepared to use an app to trace coronavirus infections if it met proper guarantees on privacy and security, the AD reported on Thursday. Young adults are the most likely to agree to use an app which would use bluetooth technology to alert them if they have been close to a coronavirus patient, the researchers …

Australia has COVIDSafe. Here is how other countries are using contact tracing apps in the fight against coronavirus
4 years, 8 months ago

Australia has COVIDSafe. Here is how other countries are using contact tracing apps in the fight against coronavirus

ABC  

More than 2 million Australians have downloaded the Government's COVID-19 tracing app, COVIDSafe. Using mobile phone location data, along with the country's prolific CCTV and credit card transaction records, authorities retrospectively track the movements of people who later test positive. The practice of authorities accessing mobile phone location data purely for contact tracing is not legal in Australia. The country …

Will the Government's coronavirus app COVIDSafe keep your data secure? Here's what the experts say
4 years, 8 months ago

Will the Government's coronavirus app COVIDSafe keep your data secure? Here's what the experts say

ABC  

The Government's contact-tracing app COVIDSafe aims to help track down people who may have been exposed to COVID-19. A spokesperson for Government Services Minister Stuart Robert did not comment on Dr Merkel's analysis, but said "the exchange of the encrypted user ID uses a standard Bluetooth exchange". On Sunday, Health Minister Greg Hunt shared a determination under the Biosecurity Act …

COVIDSafe's effectiveness on iPhone in question as Government releases coronavirus contact tracing app
4 years, 8 months ago

COVIDSafe's effectiveness on iPhone in question as Government releases coronavirus contact tracing app

ABC  

The Government wants 40 per cent of Australians to use its contact tracing app COVIDSafe, but questions remain about the technology's performance on iPhone. Key points: If an iPhone is in low power mode, it reduces the background app refresh and may impact the ability to track contacts If an iPhone is in low power mode, it reduces the background …

Wary Germans hate sharing their data. Will they use a Covid-19 tracking app?
4 years, 8 months ago

Wary Germans hate sharing their data. Will they use a Covid-19 tracking app?

CNN  

London CNN Business — European governments are racing to develop apps that can track the spread of the coronavirus to prevent a second wave of infections when the economy reopens. “The skepticism of Germans in terms of data protection is remarkable when it comes to sharing data,” said University of Mannheim Professor Sebastian Siegloch, who has studied German attitudes toward …

A European Contact-Tracing App Might Be More Privacy-Invading Than Apple and Google’s
4 years, 8 months ago

A European Contact-Tracing App Might Be More Privacy-Invading Than Apple and Google’s

Slate  

This article is part of Privacy in the Pandemic, a Future Tense series. A number of scientists along with Apple and Google have proposed a “decentralized” approach to contact tracing that protects users’ privacy. Thus, the fundamental privacy guarantee of these “decentralized” systems hangs on two simple facts: Unless you’re positively diagnosed, your own pseudonyms will never leave the phone. …

Government insists coronavirus tracing app will not track people's locations, says data will be stored on phones
4 years, 8 months ago

Government insists coronavirus tracing app will not track people's locations, says data will be stored on phones

ABC  

Community privacy concerns have forced the Federal Government to insist a coronavirus tracing app will neither track people's locations nor be available for law enforcement agencies to access. Key points: The Government is developing an app to assist with contact tracing confirmed cases Minister Stuart Robert insists the app will not track people's location The app will record names, ages, …

Apple and Google’s contact tracing initiative would omit billions who don’t have smartphones
4 years, 8 months ago

Apple and Google’s contact tracing initiative would omit billions who don’t have smartphones

CNN  

San Francisco CNN Business — Apple and Google may have set aside their smartphone rivalry to help track the spread of the coronavirus. And between their Android and iOS operating systems, the new contact tracing technology they are jointly developing — which tells smartphone users if they’ve been around someone who tested positive for the virus — could make its …

Who can access our data? Does digital contact tracing even work? Five questions about the government's new coronavirus app
4 years, 8 months ago

Who can access our data? Does digital contact tracing even work? Five questions about the government's new coronavirus app

ABC  

The Federal Government will soon introduce a contact tracing app, which aims to identify who someone diagnosed with COVID-19 may have come into close contact with in case they need to be tested or quarantined. "This new tracing app will be voluntary and will digitise the current contact tracing process that already occurs when an individual tests positive to coronavirus," …

A deeper look at Apple and Google’s joint technology to combat COVID-19
4 years, 8 months ago

A deeper look at Apple and Google’s joint technology to combat COVID-19

The Hindu  

On April 10, Silicon Valley giants Apple and Google announced that they were joining hands to create operating system-level technology to help speed up the contact tracing process. To be effective, users need to install a public health app that uses Apple and Google’s service. More importantly, over-reliance on technology may not help as much as investing in manual contract …

Should I download the coronavirus tracing app? Here's how to decide
4 years, 8 months ago

Should I download the coronavirus tracing app? Here's how to decide

ABC  

At 5:30am yesterday my seven-year-old son and I took our golden retriever for a 5 kilometre stroll. Sometime in the next couple of weeks the Federal Government is going roll out a new phone app to trace COVID-19 victims' movements before they show symptoms. All Australians are going to be asked to download and use the app: The Government needs …

Apple and Google want your phone to become a coronavirus tracking device. Can it really work?
4 years, 8 months ago

Apple and Google want your phone to become a coronavirus tracking device. Can it really work?

CNN  

CNN Business — Apple and Google grew into global forces by creating wildly popular devices and applications. Apple and Google ’s ambitious plan to help track the spread of the coronavirus using Bluetooth technology could need as many as half of all Americans to participate, and likely more, in order for the tracing scheme to work most effectively, according to …

Apple tries to give answers to COVID-19 contact tracing tech problems
4 years, 8 months ago

Apple tries to give answers to COVID-19 contact tracing tech problems

India TV News  

Apple and Google recently announced a joint plan to help fight the current Coronavirus crisis. The plan includes COVID-19 contact tracing technology in the form of Android and iOS apps. For this, Apple tries to provide more details regarding the COVID-19 contact tracing technology. Apple COVID-19 contact tracing tech According to a report by The Verge, Apple has provided answers …

Apple registers for Coronavirus domain for COVID-19 contact tracing tech: Know what it is
4 years, 8 months ago

Apple registers for Coronavirus domain for COVID-19 contact tracing tech: Know what it is

India TV News  

Apple has booked a domain name called AppleCoronavirus.com, after the iPhone maker and Google last week announced a joint effort to enable the use of Bluetooth technology to help governments and health agencies reduce the spread of the new coronavirus. Apple and Google are launching a comprehensive solution that includes application programming interfaces and operating system-level technology to assist in …

Apple, Google to create contact tracing technology to fight Coronavirus spread
4 years, 8 months ago

Apple, Google to create contact tracing technology to fight Coronavirus spread

Firstpost  

They will work together on technology that will allow mobile devices to trade information via Bluetooth connections to alert people. Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Friday that they will work together to create contact tracing technology that aims to slow the spread of the Coronavirus by allowing users to opt into a system that catalogs other phones …

Apple reveals more details about its COVID-19 contact tracing tool
4 years, 8 months ago

Apple reveals more details about its COVID-19 contact tracing tool

India Today  

Apple and Google on Saturday announced that they have joined hands to build a Bluetooth-based COVID contact tracing platform that lets people know when they have come in contact with a coronavirus-infected person. In a joint statement earlier, Apple and Google had said that they are working on application programming interfaces and operating system-level technology to assist in enabling contact …

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