Novel Bluetooth contact tracing app for COVID-19 protects privacy


PTI, Apr 8, 2020, 2:55 PM IST

London: Scientists have developed a new Bluetooth contact tracing app for detecting COVID-19 proximity, that they say will help epidemiologists to analyze the spread of the pandemic while fully protecting individual privacy.

The DP-3T tracing system has been developed to the highest privacy standards, and is ready to deploy into an app, according to the researchers from University College London (UCL) in the UK.

“The system ensures no personal data ever leaves an individual’s device, and is not centralized in a cloud server, meaning it is not able to be repurposed for anything other than public health,” they said.

“There are a lot of concerns about Bluetooth tracing being administered centrally by governments, particularly in countries that have weaker privacy laws and concern for human rights,” said Michael Veale from UCL.

“We have developed a practical solution that could help tell someone when they come into contact with someone that has tested positive for COVID-19, while at the same time ensuring that the user’s information never leaves their phone,” said Veale.

The system would work whereby people who have tested positive for COVID-19 are authorized to upload random, constantly changing identifiers they have been emitting via Bluetooth using the app.

The researchers explained that Individuals that have the app, and have been in proximity to that person, compare downloaded random identifiers to the ones they have collected using their own devices.

If they were in close proximity for a significant duration to a person that had tested positive, they would receive a quick notification to alert them, along with the World Health Organization (WHO) approved guidance on next steps.

While these uploaded identifiers are useful to those who use the app, they are useless to the central server, the researchers said.

The server will not be able to identify who an uploader is or any characteristics about the individual, the study.

The scientists noted that several governments across the world have used contact tracing, as part of efforts to control the spread of the coronavirus.

China, for example, has reportedly relied on mass surveillance of phones to classify individuals by their health status and restrict their movements, they said.

However, concerns have been raised about what this means for individual privacy rights, and what happens if the data is misused or used beyond the initial purpose.

“Given this is a global problem, it is key such a system works across borders, so they can be re-opened,” said Veale.

“If one country uses a centralized system, then they all have to, putting citizens of countries with limited respect for human rights or the rule of law at serious risk,” he said.

The new system works the other way citizens around the world would be protected from surveillance and misuse, while epidemiologists get the insights they tell us they need, the researchers said.

The team of 25 scientists from across Europe including the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology and KU Leuven in Belgium, developed a system that hides all personal information from the server.

The researchers explained as the different identities in the system receive the minimum amount of information tailored to their requirements, none of them can abuse the data for other purposes, nor can they be coerced or subpoenaed to make other data available.

The said that no entity, including the backend of the app, can track non-infected users.

The system will organically dismantle itself at the end of the pandemic. Infected patients will stop uploading their data to the central server, and people will stop using the app. Data on the server is removed after 14 days, according to the researchers.

Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.

Top News

Maharashtra Polls: Eknath Shinde targets Uddhav for `giving up’ Bal Thackeray’s principles for power

Will appear before Lokayukta for questioning in MUDA case, says CM Siddaramaiah

Lies have short life, Cong’s ‘fake’ narrative smashed: Fadnavis

Temple idols found desecrated in Hyderabad, case registered

SC junks plea against quashing of LOC issued to ex-house help of Sushant Singh Rajput

JPC chairman Jagdambika Pal to visit K’taka on Nov 7 to meet farmers protesting Waqf notices

Indian boxer Mandeep Jangra wins WBF’s world title

Related Articles More

Stay Safe Online: Tips to avoid cyber fraud!

Three Chinese astronauts enter space station after successful launch

What is AI superintelligence? Could it destroy humanity? And is it really almost here?

IIT-B develops method to maintain comfortable temperature inside homes in joint research

Scammers use fear and urgency to con people using ‘digital arrest’, online scams: Cyber advisory

MUST WATCH

Gho Pooja in Deepavali Festival

Melukote Deepavali

Ganapathi Co-operative Society Ltd

Udayavani Chinnara Banna 2024

Annapoorna Aahar | Food Places In Mysore


Latest Additions

Waqf Issue: JPC chair Jagdambika Pal to visit Hubballi, Vijayapura on November 7

Maharashtra Polls: Eknath Shinde targets Uddhav for `giving up’ Bal Thackeray’s principles for power

Shivamogga: Wild elephant dies due to electrocution form farm fence; Landowner detained

Folk singer Sharda Sinha’s condition critical, PM in direct contact with treating doctors

Weight loss could help one manage PCOS symptoms, study suggests

Thanks for visiting Udayavani

You seem to have an Ad Blocker on.
To continue reading, please turn it off or whitelist Udayavani.