People returning to work following the long pandemic will find an array of tech-infused gadgetry to improve workplace safety but which could pose risks for long-term personal and medical privacy.
image copyrightMind The Gap. image captionThe app sends a notification if you are too close to your colleaguesAlthough many contact-tracing apps have found it hard to accurately detect distances with Bluetooth, Hack Partners says the combination of the technology with audio measuring, gives an accuracy of between 6-8cm.
Even a newly constructed app using the Apple-Google software API (something NHSx is working on) is unlikely to solve all the issues the app has encountered, and it’s questionable whether new version will incite the public support needed.
The names and addresses of approximately 900 people in Missouri were released as part of a media request under the Sunshine Law, which allows for the release of information submitted to a public agency (except for wrongdoing and abuse tips).St. Louis County had urged the community to share details of anyone not following guidelines in response to the coronavirus pandemic and noted in the terms and conditions that information may be shared publicly.
He also noted companies using that type of information could open the door to the government being able to obtain the personal data through national security laws such as the Patriot Act. Location data tracked through digital companies, though, could help notify people who were in a store or area where someone later tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
By focusing the geospatial human mobility insights our technology can surface, we created this pro bono Social Distancing Scoreboard as the first of many tools we are developing for a Unacast COVID-19 Toolkit — designed to provide high-quality insights to public agencies, healthcare organizations, local governments and businesses to enable them to learn and act in the best interest of at-risk populations and the general public.
Additionally, legal safeguards on location data in the UK mean that the government only receives information from mobile carriers in aggregated form, which prevents individuals from being identified.
The Washington Post reported last week that the U.S. government is in talks with Facebook, Google and other tech companies about using anonymous location data to combat the coronavirus, including tracking whether people are keeping at safe distances from one another.