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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/20/coronavirus-digital-contact-tracing-will-fail-unless-privacy-is-respected-experts-warn
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| Digital contact tracing will fail unless privacy is respected, experts warn | Digital contact tracing will fail unless privacy is respected, experts warn |
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| Letter suggests citizens will reject any centralised app launched to prevent coronavirus that harvests superfluous data | Letter suggests citizens will reject any centralised app launched to prevent coronavirus that harvests superfluous data |
| Digital contact tracing will fail unless governments build the technology in a way that respects user privacy, a group of nearly 300 experts have warned. | Digital contact tracing will fail unless governments build the technology in a way that respects user privacy, a group of nearly 300 experts have warned. |
| If public health bodies like the NHS build centralised contact tracing apps that transmit superfluous data they will struggle to win the trust of enough citizens to ensure the activity is a success, the experts say. | If public health bodies like the NHS build centralised contact tracing apps that transmit superfluous data they will struggle to win the trust of enough citizens to ensure the activity is a success, the experts say. |
| The joint letter, signed by academics from 26 countries worldwide, highlights the potential that digital contact tracing has in helping prevent a resurgence of Covid-19 as countries come out of lockdown, but cautions that the effectiveness is no excuse for riding roughshod over privacy protections – and is, in fact, closely entwined with them. | The joint letter, signed by academics from 26 countries worldwide, highlights the potential that digital contact tracing has in helping prevent a resurgence of Covid-19 as countries come out of lockdown, but cautions that the effectiveness is no excuse for riding roughshod over privacy protections – and is, in fact, closely entwined with them. |
| “Such apps can otherwise be repurposed to enable unwarranted discrimination and surveillance,” the letter states. “It is crucial that citizens trust the applications in order to produce sufficient uptake to make a difference in tackling the crisis. It is vital that, in coming out of the current crisis, we do not create a tool that enables large-scale data collection on the population, either now or at a later time. | “Such apps can otherwise be repurposed to enable unwarranted discrimination and surveillance,” the letter states. “It is crucial that citizens trust the applications in order to produce sufficient uptake to make a difference in tackling the crisis. It is vital that, in coming out of the current crisis, we do not create a tool that enables large-scale data collection on the population, either now or at a later time. |
| “Thus, solutions which allow reconstructing invasive information about the population should be rejected without further discussion.” | “Thus, solutions which allow reconstructing invasive information about the population should be rejected without further discussion.” |
| Digital contact tracing, pioneered by Singapore in late March, uses the Bluetooth connection in modern smartphones to keep track of meetings between individuals, in order to allow self-isolation instructions to be sent automatically to everyone a newly diagnosed patient has interacted with while infectious. | Digital contact tracing, pioneered by Singapore in late March, uses the Bluetooth connection in modern smartphones to keep track of meetings between individuals, in order to allow self-isolation instructions to be sent automatically to everyone a newly diagnosed patient has interacted with while infectious. |
| It is possible to carry out such tracing without needing to build a centralised database of every meeting between individuals, which could be abused by authoritarian governments or overzealous officials: one proposal, backed by Apple and Google, sees every smartphone build a decentralised record of only the other phones it has interacted with, and waiting to hear from the state if any of those phones have been marked as infectious. | It is possible to carry out such tracing without needing to build a centralised database of every meeting between individuals, which could be abused by authoritarian governments or overzealous officials: one proposal, backed by Apple and Google, sees every smartphone build a decentralised record of only the other phones it has interacted with, and waiting to hear from the state if any of those phones have been marked as infectious. |
| But the NHS is understood to be focusing on a different approach, which uploads far more data. That brings with it numerous technological hurdles, since it won’t be supported by the two main smartphone operating systems, and has sparked concern among privacy campaigners. | |
| The academics’ warning is backed up by a cautionary report from the Ada Lovelace Institute, an independent thinktank that focuses on issues around data and AI. The institute argued that any future contact-tracing app must be backed by specific legislation regulating the processing of data, must “encourage privacy-by-design in technical implementations and must choose privacy-preserving protocols to underscore technical measures”. | |
| “There is a real risk that the expansion of state intrusion into individuals’ lives that occurs during emergencies endures beyond the originating crisis,” the report said. “Technical and legal infrastructure built during this pandemic may be difficult to dismantle once it is over unless proper safeguards are in place.” | “There is a real risk that the expansion of state intrusion into individuals’ lives that occurs during emergencies endures beyond the originating crisis,” the report said. “Technical and legal infrastructure built during this pandemic may be difficult to dismantle once it is over unless proper safeguards are in place.” |
| “Open debate and scrutiny must be encouraged, to increase trust and raise public awareness of the complexity of the issues.” | “Open debate and scrutiny must be encouraged, to increase trust and raise public awareness of the complexity of the issues.” |
| Any contact-tracing app would need to be used by more than half the total population to be effective, according to research from Oxford University. Singapore’s app, TraceTogether, has currently achieved just 17% uptake. But if the NHS succeeds in getting 60% of the UK to install and run the app, says Christophe Fraser, the report’s senior author, it “has the potential to substantially reduce the number of new coronavirus cases, hospitalisations and ICU admissions”. |