Whitepapers

Digital Contact Tracing: A Pragmatic Approach

By 2020-05-29T12:52:00

Digital Contact Tracing

The COVID-19 contact tracing apps have made the headlines recently and have been a widely debated topic, especially among privacy professionals.

The COVID-19 contact tracing apps have made the headlines recently and have been a widely debated topic, especially among privacy professionals.

Countries around the world have rushed to launch their contact tracing apps as part of their wider efforts to curb the spread of the COVID-19 and ease lockdown.

Different countries have adopted their own strategies and contact tracing technologies, ranging from the use of proximity Bluetooth tracking, to geo-location, and facial recognition.

Digital Contact Tracing

Digital Contact Tracing

According to the COVID-19 Digital Rights Tracker, as of 13 May 2020, in response to the pandemic:

  • “Contact tracing apps are being used in 28 countries;
  • Alternative digital tracking measures are in use in 32 countries;
  • Physical surveillance technologies are in use in 10 countries.”

In Gemserv’s latest Thought Leadership Paper, Principal Consultant Natasha Singh reviews and discusses the UK digital contract tracing apps and the potential implications regards to privacy and digital ethics.