Bluetooth signals will aid app that identifies infected people | GDPR regulations to ensure user data protection
This app will analyse phone Bluetooth signals and identify those near the infected person. Accordingly, it will notify the people who were next to them when they were first found positive. European researchers believe they have found a way to use mobile phones to limit the spread of the coronavirus. This could help people avoid infection without sacrificing the high standards of privacy that apply in Europe.
The News says that scientists, activists, and technology experts from 8 different countries are involved in the project. Politico reports the release of the code for an application that analyses Bluetooth signals between mobile phones. This applications identify users who stand close enough to each other to become infected.
Safeguards and Regulations
People’s phones will store the data for temporary periods. If you showed an illness of Covid-19, then the application alerts everyone that was near you in the past days. Unlike surveillance technologies like that used in countries with fewer regulations, this software works differently. It doesn’t only patch you up, but it protects your privacy. It has safeguards and records everything anonymously. This happens according to some of the project’s participants such as the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute in Berlin and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Lausanne.
The GDPR and subsequent Regulations mean better personal data protection against misuse, including by governments. Chris Bush of Arago shares: “I think Europe is a good starting point for this because we have a long tradition of privacy protection.” “We made many strides to get where we are today. Not in the face of the threat should we fight against our culture.”
European Application
Germany will likely be the first country to implement this app, thanks to this code. There’s not an announcement yet on a voluntary AI pandemic response system. According to Lothar Willer, president of the Robert Koch Institute, which is coordinating Berlin’s pandemic measures, his institute is collaborating with other institutions on such a voluntary implementation. Speaking to reporters, he said that “Ideally, it would be good for all of us in Germany to use it.”
Bush explains that Europe will also follow suite. He is aiming to make the code public so this will help to create a better app across all of Europe that are able to use Bluetooth signals and interact with each other for the goal of reducing outbreaks. At present, the following organizations are participating in this initiative funded through donations: Organizations from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. The project remains open to other countries as well.
The government has been calling on ways to revitalise the European economy, without growing the number of Covid-19 cases in Europe. PERP-RT is a new app used by European workers and businesses, giving them their freedom to travel around. To stop the spread of the virus, epidemiologists need to identify source locations and isolate possible vectors as soon as they arise.
Germany has been contacting patients mainly by interviewing them and their families, but this process is time consuming and not always accurate. Patients may not be aware or able to remember all the individuals they have encountered in the past two weeks. With electronic devices, you can quickly find new cases and exactly where they are at. The creators of RERP-RT emphasise that it’s voluntary and the code means that identities can’t be revealed. Devices exchange data indirectly, so two phones can’t exchange data directly, according to GDPR regulations.
Gather more information on the topic by reviewing MIT’s app presentation. Follow the link for more,
https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/03/17/905257/coronavirus-infection-tests-app-pandemic-location-privacy/ .
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Author: PC-GR
The World of Technology
