Coronavirus Tracing Apps Conflict With Privacy

Smartphone apps designed to trace people at risk of Covid-19 infection have attracting criticism in Europe and the US for their potential as surveillance and spying tools to be used by governments.  

Scientists and researchers from more than 25 countries have published an open letter urging governments not to abuse such technology to spy on their people and warning of risks in an approach championed by Germany.

More than a hundreds of the British researchers and scientists have expressed concern over privacy and security resulting from 'mission creep' as the UK's government plans for using smartphones to trace and combat coronavirus slowly get going.

Much of our pre-coronavirus lives may be reclaimable with some modifications around how we work, socialise and travel, however in one crucial way the post-pandemic landscape will be very different as an individual’s autonomy and data privacy may be lost as mobile telephones are used for surveillance.

This will have important consequences for the relationship not just between citizens and governments, but also between consumers and businesses.

The risk of the coming end of privacy is attributable to the success of virus tracing apps in South Korea and Taiwan which have both been effective in flattening the Covid-19 curve by digitally tracking infected persons. No government was using dispersed databases as extensively to fight the spread of the disease as South Korea. Before an explosive outbreak in its worker dormitories, Singapore earned praise for TraceTogether, which claims to be the first Bluetooth contact-tracing app covering an entire nation. The 1.4 million users represent roughly a fourth of the island’s population.

Governments want access to phones, with or without informed consent and turning the clock back will be difficult, if not impossible. Where boundaries between private and public are thin to begin with, a pandemic can make them disappear. 

There have been assurances from various governments, including those in France, India and Singapore, that tracing  Apps will go away once the outbreak is contained, but no legal guarantees.  

  • The Singaporean app records physical proximity in an anonymised form on smartphones. Minimal data is stored on servers. The national TraceTogether’s App building blocks are in the public domain although he source code of  is yet to be disclosed.
  • As India reopens after a 43-day lockdown, it’s mandatory, first for public-sector employees and now for private-sector workers and company bosses are liable to ensure their workers download the app, though nobody is accountable for misuse of data.  The Indian government recently denied a French security researcher’s claim that the privacy of ninety million Indians is at stake. 

An analysis of China’s Alipay Health Code software, which uses various data sources of data to categorise a person’s health status with a colour code, found that some information is shared with the police.

One consequence of Covid-19 will be to erode privacy in the name of public health. European data protection laws will try to ensure that the emergency collection and processing of personal information is legally accountable and for a limited purpose but the British parliament’s human rights committee says it isn’t convinced that the National Health Service’s tracing App protects privacy.

Where they exist, robust institutions could will offer resistance to surveillance but  in many places the individual’s autonomy has already become a virus casualty. Poorer countries where consumers have only recently started going online will see states insist on devices that come with pre-loaded tracking apps. 

Whether sensitive data will be kept safely on devices or stored on a central server in a way that might allow a bad actor to reconstruct a person’s social activity, keeping a record of where they have been and when and who they meet. will become an urgent question as efforts to control the Coronavirus extend around the world.  

Bloomberg:      ZDNet:     SCMP:       LA Times:   

You Might Also Read: 

Incompatible: Privacy & The Internet of Things:

Coronavirus Track & Trace Apps On A Deadline:

 

« Hacked Vehicle Owner Database For Sale
Vehicle Cyber Crime Attacks Double »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

Resecurity, Inc.

Resecurity, Inc.

Resecurity is a cybersecurity company that delivers a unified platform for endpoint protection, risk management, and cyber threat intelligence.

LockLizard

LockLizard

Locklizard provides PDF DRM software that protects PDF documents from unauthorized access and misuse. Share and sell documents securely - prevent document leakage, sharing and piracy.

Practice Labs

Practice Labs

Practice Labs is an IT competency hub, where live-lab environments give access to real equipment for hands-on practice of essential cybersecurity skills.

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout enables cyber security professionals to reduce cyber risk to their organization with proactive security solutions, providing immediate improvement in security posture and ROI.

CYRIN

CYRIN

CYRIN® Cyber Range. Real Tools, Real Attacks, Real Scenarios. See why leading educational institutions and companies in the U.S. have begun to adopt the CYRIN® system.

Zayo

Zayo

Zayo is a leading global bandwidth infrastructure services provider for high-performance connectivity, secure colocation and flexible cloud services.

Puppet

Puppet

Puppet is a leader in IT automation. Our software helps DevOps securely automate configuration and management of machines and the software running on them.

Cybertrust Japan

Cybertrust Japan

Cybertrust Japan provides a comprehensive security certification and digital authentication service, enabling customers to build and manage highly secure IT infrastructures.

Maritime Cyber Alliance

Maritime Cyber Alliance

Maritime Cyber Alliance was established in 2017 by Airbus , CSOAlliance , MCSA & Wididi to provide a medium for both public Cyber Safety advice and for businesses to discuss Cyber concerns.

Aveshka

Aveshka

Aveshka is a professional services firm focused on addressing complex threats and challenges including Cybersecurity and Information Technology.

Span

Span

Span designs, develops and maintains information systems based on advanced technological solutions of global IT leaders.

Red Snapper Recruitment

Red Snapper Recruitment

Red Snapper Recruitment is a market leading staffing services provider to the law enforcement, cyber security, offender supervision and regulatory services markets.

Network Center Inc (NCI)

Network Center Inc (NCI)

NCI is one of the largest IT solution providers in the Midwest. We specialize in industry specific technology solutions, service, support, and expertise for small to enterprise businesses.

Eureka Technology Partners

Eureka Technology Partners

Eureka Technology Partners are committed to helping you focus on your business by taking care of your IT infrastructure and data security needs.

Indevis

Indevis

Indevis provides IT security, datacenter and network solutions, accompanied by professional consulting, management and support services.

Cyber Coaching

Cyber Coaching

Cyber Coaching is a community for enhancing technical cyber skills, through unofficial certification training, cyber mentorship, and personalised occupational transition programs.

Lucidum

Lucidum

The Lucidum platform helps you assess risk and mitigate vulnerabilities by finding and correlating data from your security tech stack.

Capgemini

Capgemini

Capgemini is one of the world's foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services. Areas of expertise include Cybersecurity.

Synoptek

Synoptek

Synoptek is a global systems integrator and managed IT services provider (MSP). We offer comprehensive IT management and consultancy services to organizations worldwide.

Allot

Allot

Allot are a global provider of leading innovative network intelligence and security solutions for Service Providers and Enterprises worldwide.

Orca Technology

Orca Technology

Orca is a UK-based Managed Service Provider delivering end-to-end managed IT services, support, hosted desktop, cloud solutions and strategic guidance.