There always seems to be one thing or the other making waves in consumer tech. While the war against facial recognition is still ongoing in some regions, we have a possible new concern. In the form of contact tracing apps, there seem to be fresh concerns about how this new piece of tech can be misused. That is why we have developed this piece to answer some of the burning questions that you might have on these apps in general.
What are Contact Tracing apps?
Contact tracing apps are mobile applications that leverage Bluetooth and Wi-Fi functionality to trace possible persons that an infected case might have contacted. As the name implies, this will assist health officials in properly isolating suspected cases.
That way, they do not go about infecting others with the virus in the incubation period when they will most likely be asymptomatic.
What devices will use these apps?
For now, these apps will be developed for both Android and iOS platforms. This is logical since they make up almost 100% of the global smartphone market share . It is also important to note that not all devices running these operating systems will be able to get the applications. Some units are running old hardware, which might not be compatible with the current Bluetooth and Wi-Fi needs of the app. On the other hand, some might also be running older software, which will not allow them even to access these apps in the first place.
Will contact tracing apps work?
This is a question that can only be authoritatively answered after we have gotten rid of the pandemic. Contact tracing is not a new thing in medicine. Before now, manual contact tracing has been used to find possible infected persons during a pandemic or endemic so that the spread is slowed down. However, this is the first time that we will be going digital. Of course, using all the tools at our disposal right now makes sense. Since this is their first time, though, there is no reference data to compare to.
What are the privacy concerns around contact tracing apps?
It is essential to understand people’s level of acceptance of this technology and their privacy concerns. From an ExpressVPN survey on people’s views towards contact tracing apps , most people see these apps as a form of privacy violation, which would lead to potential long-term mass surveillance. Human rights organizations have already kicked against these apps. They believe that the government could use them to gather sensitive data on the users. This could range from location and health data to personally-identifying information from their phones. Since these apps require a high adoption rate (as much as 80%) for them to work, there are also concerns about how the government might force people to take them up. That would lead to an ugly situation, no doubt.
On the flip side, Google and Apple have tightened the security measures around these apps. One of the things they did was ensure the data on the apps will be stored on the user’s phone – and destroyed after a set number of days. That way, there is no central data station where a third party can access the said data. However, people are not as trusting of the big tech payers too. What if there were some backdoor to get their data anyways?
Who is building these apps?
A common mistake that people make is thinking Apple and Google are building the contact tracing apps. Quite the contrary. What these two companies are doing is making the framework for these apps to work available. This includes sending updates to their devices so that the apps can work well. They will also help regulate the data collection and usage side of the apps to meet specific requirements. Thus, it is up to third-party companies and developers to come up with relevant apps that will meet these standards and still work as intended.
