Apple’s partnership with Google will make it faster to deploy coronavirus infection detection systems, the driving force behind a European effort to support smartphone technology, he said.
Technologists are racing to use short-range Bluetooth communication between devices as a proxy to measure the risk that a person infected with the corona virus can transmit it. Google from Apple and Alphabet said last week that they would launch tools in May to support such applications, fully integrating Bluetooth contact tracking features into their operating systems to track.
Chris Boos, who advocates for the technology platform Pan-European Privacy Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT https://www.pepp-pt.org), says this can help shorten the path to implementation. “We have less to worry about operating system stability and device calibration,” said Boos, founder of German business process automation, Arago, in written replies to Reuters.
PEPP-PT plans a progress update on Friday. CHAIN OF INFECTION
The coronavirus can be spread by people who do not show symptoms, increasing the urgency of efforts once a person tests positive to break the chain of infection. Digital technology can help provide targeted warnings to see their doctor or isolate themselves, the donors say, reducing the need for closures that have led to major economic disruption.
Bluetooth proponents say it would be a more accurate and less invasive way to capture the proximity and duration of personal contacts than location tracking based on networks or satellites. But there has been a divide between supporters of decentralized systems – including Apple and Google – and supporters of a centralized approach where sensitive data is kept on a server. The latter includes some governments, which express concerns that they might place citizens under surveillance.
PEPP-PT, developed in collaboration with the German Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute and technologists from other European countries, would support both models. “A centralized model offers so much better pandemic management potential without compromising privacy,” said Boos.
“But it has to be a country choice. You can collect the same data on top of a decentralized model – it just means more people have to move data about infected people.” PEPP-PT is certified by the German Cyber Security Watchdog and has received support from some leaders in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government.
However, no decision has yet been made to endorse an official contacts tracking app for use on PEPP-PT, which experts say https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/04/09 /science.abb6936 that should be downloaded by at least 60% of the population to help achieve so-called digital herd immunity.
(This story has not been edited by staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
News
