Smartphone Contact Tracing And Threat To Privacy
Cell phone contact tracing is a way to track your health through your smartphone. This way of tracing public health during COVID-19 has played an important role in finding people who have tested positive for the virus. It is done through mobile applications. If you are found infected with the virus, you are asked to isolate yourself from your family and any other people to prevent the transmission of the disease.
Many countries across the world have developed contact tracing apps for both Android and iOS devices. This digital method of tracing infected people is more effective compared to normal tracing.
How do contact tracking apps work?
As you know, all smartphones have features for connecting other devices through Bluetooth, including headphones or any other devices that operate wirelessly. Contact tracing apps work through Bluetooth connectivity to track people with any symptoms of contagious disease. If you have installed a contact tracing app and the Bluetooth is enabled, and when you come in contact with someone who has tested positive for infectious disease, the app will notify you about it.
When you start using a contact tracing facility, you get a digital ID used to inform someone if you are found infected. During the pandemic, location tracking has also been used by a few countries like South Korea, to track people.
Involvement of Google and Apple in mobile contact tracing
Google and Apple have created API systems for contact tracing. The API system enables Android and iPhone devices to access Bluetooth data to find the people near you with COVID-19. The contact tracing apps collect user information through API to work correctly.
What types of data are used by contact tracing apps?
Contact tracing apps collect data, including the user’s age, contact number, and zip code. Your device collects this data locally if you don’t want to share it with the public database. If you are found positive, the app doesn’t share your information with other users.
Privacy and Security risks with contact tracking apps
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, many civil rights issues have been found for contact tracing apps. The main problem related to apps is the misuse of people’s health information to spread discrimination. You may also think that after COVID-19, what will happen with those data.
However, these apps don’t share user information, but others can guess your infection status when tested positive. Moreover, your country’s government can ask about the COVID-19’s data from the companies for effective monitoring of disease. Though, in many countries, it is not mandatory to use contact tracing apps.
You can try privacy protection apps available for Android and iOS platforms to secure your info.
Cyber threats associated with contact tracing apps
If anything is digital or runs using the internet, it is obvious that cyber threats are associated with it. Even the government employs the best cybersecurity experts, but digital dangers cannot be eliminated.
The apps that run using Bluetooth are vulnerable to cyber-attacks. This risk is also associated with old Android phones as hackers can remotely access the device with Bluetooth enabled. To eliminate such security risks, you must keep your phone up-to-date with the latest security updates.
Practice the following rules for privacy concerns
You can try some smart ways to reduce the risk of losing privacy while using a contact tracing app on your mobile phone.
- Don’t turn off automatic updates for your device’s operating system. Keep it enabled to download and install the latest security updates.
- Turn on automatic update options on your device to keep up-to-date with the contact tracing app.
- Don’t install any random app on your device. Before downloading and installing any app, please ensure that you install a legit app.
Source: https://a3office.co.uk/smartphone-contact-tracing-and-threat-to-privacy/
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