US coronavirus tracking: A patchwork of apps, human tracers

Efforts in the United States to track the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus - known as contact tracing - have become a patchwork based on differing approaches to technology and civil liberties.

Some jurisdictions are seeking centralised control through health agencies and to use satellite GPS location - which the tech firms won't allow due to concerns over privacy and civil liberties."We don't yet know if any of these technologies will work, but we do know that we currently lack many of the protections needed to guard against abuse or overreach," said Ms Neema Singh Guliani of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Rhode Island's"Crush Covid" app was developed by India-based tech firm Infosys and uses GPS-based location sensing, location maps and push notifications. Ms Lauren Sarkesian of the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute noted that to get wide participation,"governments and app providers must ensure that strong privacy protections are in place, especially by avoiding collection of sensitive location data."

"Although contact tracing is essential for public health, Americans' distrust in the government's ability to safeguard data lowers the trade-offs of sharing personal data for the public good," said Mr Chris Foster of PSB parent firm BCW. Early estimates indicated 100,000 new tracers would be required for the United States, while some experts say the need is far greater.

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