Apple and Google Partner On COVID-19 Contact Tracing Technology
Apple and Google will be launching a comprehensive solution that includes application programming interfaces (APIs) and operating system-level technology to assist in enabling contact tracing. Given the urgent need, the plan is to implement this solution in two steps while maintaining strong protections around user privacy.
As I noted in a piece titled “The New Patriot Act” a few weeks ago, I am staunchly opposed to the implementation of any sort of mandated contact tracing surveillance system.
As a general rule, I trust Apple implicitly when it comes to privacy matters, so this piece of news about Apple partnering with Google to build contact tracing technologies was startling to me upon first glance. However, after reading their Newsroom briefing, it seems to me that Apple is doing this for the sake of consumer privacy rather than in spite of it: by announcing the development of a contact tracing system before one could be created by the government, they’re making it much more likely that a mandatory surveillance system from the government will never come to fruition, allowing citizens the privacy of an opt-in system provided by the free market.
First, in May, both companies will release APIs that enable interoperability between Android and iOS devices using apps from public health authorities. These official apps will be available for users to download via their respective app stores.
Second, in the coming months, Apple and Google will work to enable a broader Bluetooth-based contact tracing platform by building this functionality into the underlying platforms. This is a more robust solution than an API and would allow more individuals to participate, if they choose to opt in, as well as enable interaction with a broader ecosystem of apps and government health authorities.
The approaches they’re taking do seem to respect user privacy, in that they’re requiring users to explicitly opt-in and that they're creating these systems in a way that they can function without any GPS data (though I’m concerned about the ease with which nearly all of this anonymous proximity location could be associated with real world locations).
There are other instances of contact tracing happening in the United States already (not to mention the outright surveillance systems being used by Iran, China, and Israel). For instance, Massachusetts is implementing an old school contact tracing system to slow the spread of COVID-19 that involves employees calling infected patients and all of their contacts to create social maps of potential infections among contact networks, very similar to the (frankly offensive and regressive) programs utilized by public health departments when a new case of a sexually transmitted infection is reported to them (a legally mandated practice, even if you are diagnosed with an STI at a private practice), whereby the health department takes it upon themselves to contact the patient and demand they tell them who all they’ve been bedding down with so they can stir shit up and make the patient and anyone else they contact feel bad about themselves because our society is fundamentally built upon the puritanical notion that sexuality is an inherently shameful aspect of the human condition; I digress, the point is that contact tracing is not a process that respects privacy and I have little confidence that the government will get it right this time around, whether its done digitally or the old fashioned way.
I still believe our best options for combating COVID-19 are frequent hand washing and sanitizing, maintaining distance in public spaces, wearing masks when around crowds, and expanded testing for people who currently may have the virus, as well as antibody tests to determine who has acquired immunity.
I am not likely to opt in to any sort of tracking, and I would encourage you to strongly consider the long term consequences of allowing systems like this to get a foothold in our society.