Apple and Google’s COVID-19 Tracking Feature Raises Privacy Concerns

Privacy concerns have been raised due to Apple and Google’s collaboration to develop a system to monitor proximity between smartphones in the hopes of tracking COVID-19’s spread.

Sacrifice Privacy for Public Safety?

A storm of criticism has hit Apple and Google as the two companies announced changes into Android and iOS – the new feature that’s being implemented will allow government health agencies to use Bluetooth to track and monitor if there is any physical proximity between phones, meaning between humans as well. Positive COVID-19 diagnoses could be reported through the app. 

The companies chose a privacy-friendly version of the scheme, as the system is Bluetooth-only and does not collect location data or any data at all from individuals who haven’t tested positive for COVID-19. 

Despite the “privacy-friendly” approach, is it actually private enough? Practical enough? Privacy advocates and security technologists have pointed to the opposite direction, saying that the system has a massive list of potential flaws, which could expose COVID-19 positive users’ identities or help advertisers track them, as well as a variety of other issues, which come from human error or sarcasm – such as trolls making fake positives or false self-diagnoses. 

Some of the problems do have solutions, although the imperfections of the new system could backfire and drive users away from adopting it, or in a worst-case scenario, result in privacy violations. 

The technical problems, however, are not the only issue, as the criticism doesn’t encompass all the eventual sociological and political issues surrounding contact tracing. The system itself, though could be used as another tool to fight the coronavirus outbreak in a time the world needs it most, with all risks considered – and the rewards to come.