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during the contagious period, there may even be a public announce-
ment directing people on the same bus trip to get tested for the dis-
ease. Where an outbreak is small, and a disease is not particularly
contagious, contact tracing can be highly effective in containing its
spread.
Manual contact tracing has proven extremely challenging in
the COVID-19 crisis. The disease is highly contagious and spreads
rapidly. Many people with COVID-19 are contagious despite being
asymptomatic, and even those who develop symptoms may be conta-
gious days before symptoms appear. In many jurisdictions, including
Canada, there has been insufficient testing, test results may be sub-
stantially delayed, and an already strained medical system limits the
human resources required for widespread manual contact tracing.
The question has become whether data-driven technologies might
supplement, or even replace, manual contact tracing.
Contact-Tracing Apps
Early and rather blunt uses of technology to assist in contact trac-
ing relied on cellphone global positioning system (GPS) data to track
individuals. In mid-March 2020, for example, Israel announced that
it would use cellphone geolocation data to monitor those who tested
positive for COVID-19, and would use text messaging to notify those
who might have come in contact with them.3 This emergency measure
raised constitutional concerns, faced stiff opposition, and was eventu-
ally suspended in late April.4
A major trend in contact-tracing apps has been to rely on
Bluetooth technology. Bluetooth offers better privacy features for
users, focusing on the assessment of proximity between devices rather
than a GPS-determined location.
Two overarching issues emerged as interest in contact-tracing
apps increased. One pits privacy against the need or desire of govern-
ment and the public to have data collected via these apps for public
health purposes. Because of the different privacy/necessity balances
struck by different governments, a second broad issue has been
3. Natasha Lomas, “Israel Passes Emergency Law to Use Mobile Data for COVID-19
Contact Tracing” (18 March 2020), online: TechCrunch <techcrunch.com/2020/03/18/
israel-passes-emergency-law-to-use-mobile-data-for-covid-19-contact-tracing/>.
4. “Coronavirus: Israel Halts Police Phone Tracking Over Privacy Concerns”, BBC
News (23 April 2020), online: <www.bbc.com/news/technology-52395886>.
VULNERABLE
The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Title
- VULNERABLE
- Subtitle
- The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Authors
- Vanessa MacDonnell
- Jane Philpott
- Sophie Thériault
- Sridhar Venkatapuram
- Publisher
- Ottawa Press
- Date
- 2020
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 9780776636429
- Size
- 15.2 x 22.8 cm
- Pages
- 648
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- International