Privacy Concerns Decrease Amid Launch Of Tech Giants’ Contact Tracing App

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2020/06/Two_iPhones_1091302-scaled-e1592237694725.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:6:{s:5:"width";i:2560;s:6:"height";i:1440;s:4:"file";s:53:"2020/06/Two_iPhones_1091302-scaled-e1592237694725.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:14:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:53:"Two_iPhones_1091302-scaled-e1592237694725-336x189.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:189;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:53:"Two_iPhones_1091302-scaled-e1592237694725-771x434.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:434;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:53:"Two_iPhones_1091302-scaled-e1592237694725-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:53:"Two_iPhones_1091302-scaled-e1592237694725-768x432.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:432;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"1536x1536";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:54:"Two_iPhones_1091302-scaled-e1592237694725-1536x864.jpg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:864;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"2048x2048";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:55:"Two_iPhones_1091302-scaled-e1592237694725-2048x1152.jpg";s:5:"width";i:2048;s:6:"height";i:1152;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:51:"Two_iPhones_1091302-scaled-e1592237694725-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:53:"Two_iPhones_1091302-scaled-e1592237694725-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:53:"Two_iPhones_1091302-scaled-e1592237694725-300x300.jpg";s:5:"width";i:300;s:6:"height";i:300;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:53:"Two_iPhones_1091302-scaled-e1592237694725-553x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:553;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:53:"Two_iPhones_1091302-scaled-e1592237694725-470x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:53:"Two_iPhones_1091302-scaled-e1592237694725-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:53:"Two_iPhones_1091302-scaled-e1592237694725-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:53:"Two_iPhones_1091302-scaled-e1592237694725-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}s:14:"original_image";s:23:"Two_iPhones_1091302.jpg";}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Dariusz Sankowski
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_wp_attachment_backup_sizes] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:15:{s:9:"full-orig";a:3:{s:5:"width";i:2560;s:6:"height";i:1709;s:4:"file";s:30:"Two_iPhones_1091302-scaled.jpg";}s:14:"thumbnail-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Two_iPhones_1091302-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:11:"medium-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Two_iPhones_1091302-336x224.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:224;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:17:"medium_large-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Two_iPhones_1091302-768x513.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:513;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:10:"large-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Two_iPhones_1091302-771x515.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:515;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"1536x1536-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:33:"Two_iPhones_1091302-1536x1026.jpg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:1026;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"2048x2048-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:33:"Two_iPhones_1091302-2048x1367.jpg";s:5:"width";i:2048;s:6:"height";i:1367;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"wbhm-icon-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:29:"Two_iPhones_1091302-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Two_iPhones_1091302-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"wbhm-featured-square-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Two_iPhones_1091302-300x300.jpg";s:5:"width";i:300;s:6:"height";i:300;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:23:"wbhm-featured-home-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Two_iPhones_1091302-466x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:466;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:27:"wbhm-featured-carousel-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Two_iPhones_1091302-397x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:397;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:33:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Two_iPhones_1091302-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:30:"ab-block-post-grid-square-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Two_iPhones_1091302-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:19:"post-thumbnail-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"Two_iPhones_1091302-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}
        )

)
1637850081 
1592216812

States across the country are turning to smartphone apps to slow the spread of COVID-19.  Some of them are based on GPS data, but privacy watchdogs say that could potentially divulge too much personal information. Meanwhile, Alabama is getting ready to deploy a bluetooth-based app, which advocates say will better protect users’ privacy but has its own challenges.

Here’s how it works: users download the new app, turn on the bluetooth and that is it. 

“When you are in proximity of someone else within six feet and the other person also has the app running in the background, then it creates an anonymous record and that record stays for 14 days,” said Sue Feldman, director of the health informatics program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She said if anyone using the app tests positive for COVID-19, each user they came in contact with will receive a push notification saying they could have been exposed.

“You don’t know who the notification came from, you don’t know who you’re sending the notification to,” she said. “There is no location tied to the notification on either end.  It’s completely anonymous.”

Feldman said that when it comes to this type of technology, anonymity is key.  Governments in Singapore, Australia and Britain have launched similar contact tracing technology, but there are several privacy risks.

Bennett Cyphers is an engineer with the non-profit digital privacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation.  He says the technologies created in those countries uses a centralized bluetooth system which does not safeguard private data. 

“The government will know a lot of information about who has been in contact with everyone else,” he said. “And then when someone tests positive the government themselves can be like ‘oh we know all the people that phone has been in contact with so we can reach out to them directly’.”

In contrast, the model Alabama will use is decentralized. Cyphers said phones will only collect information they need from other devices. Nothing more. 

Dr. Karen Landers is the assistant state health officer with the Alabama Department of Public Health. She said if enough people use the app it could be extremely helpful.

“I don’t think it’s going to replace traditional contact tracing,” she said, “but I think it will be an enhancement to our overall efforts to contain this virus.”

Cyphers said it has the potential to be effective, but bluetooth can be problematic. 

“The only way that two phones can know how far apart they are is by using this one variable, the signal strength,” he said. “And there’s a lot of different things that can affect that signal strength that the phones might not be able to pick up on.”

For example, bluetooth can travel through most walls and glass. Cyphers said in those instances, there’s no significant contact between two people but bluetooth doesn’t know that.  Aside from the app’s effectiveness, Cyphers also worries about the digital divide. 

“Older people are much less likely to have newer smartphones, people who are less educated in America are much less likely to have newer smartphones,” he said. “And so the people who are left out of this technology are going to be some of the people who are most vulnerable to the disease.”

But, Cyphers said, the app is better than nothing. 

The state department of public health hasn’t set an official launch date for the app. Officials with UAB say its first use will likely be within its student population later this summer or early fall. 

 

Here are the Books We Love: 350+ great 2024 reads recommended by NPR

Books We Love returns with 350+ new titles handpicked by NPR staff and trusted critics. Find 12 years of recommendations all in one place — that's nearly 4,000 great reads.

After 15 years, Megan Atherton reunites with her ‘Unsung Hero’

A special reunion conversation between Megan Atherton and the woman who changed the course of her life.

Plastic waste is everywhere. Countries have one more chance to agree on a solution

Negotiations over a U.N. treaty to cut plastics have been bogged down. Environmental groups blame the oil and gas industry.

Romania in shock after far-right populist enters presidential election’s runoff

Romania's political landscape is reeling after a little-known, far-right populist secured the first round in the presidential election, going from an obscure candidate to beating the incumbent prime minister.

You can reduce your risk of dementia. Here’s how to get started

About 40% of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by healthy lifestyle choices and preventive medicine. Here's a tool to gauge your brain care and track your progress.

The holidays are stressful. Restore your calm with these 5 quick tricks

Keep these science-backed stress busters in your back pocket this holiday season. Whip 'em out the next time you're at a table full of bickering in-laws or your flight gets canceled!

More Coronavirus Coverage