NYTimes: Virus-Tracing Apps Are Rife With Problems. Governments Are Rushing to Fix Them.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/technology/virus-tracing-apps-privacy.htm... ---- In April, Norway released a smartphone app, Smittestopp <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=no.simula.smittestopp> or “stop infection,” that records users who come into close contact for more than 15 minutes and sends alerts if they have been exposed to the coronavirus <https://www.nytimes.com/news-event/coronavirus>. “We can all help stop the spread of infection and save lives,” Prime Minister Erna Solberg said <https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/ny-app-vil-stoppe-smitte-raskere/id269...> in a statement at the time. “If many people download the Smittestopp app, we can open up society more and get our freedom back.” Within two weeks, nearly 900,000 people — or about one out of five Norwegians older than 16 —had started using the app <https://www.fhi.no/nyheter/2020/1-av-5-deler-data-fra-smittestopp-appen-med-...>. But by mid-June, the government had temporarily turned off the service after data protection regulators there said Norway had so few coronavirus cases that the risks of intensified surveillance outweighed the app’s as yet unproven public health benefits. This week, the country’s data watchdog formally imposed an interim ban on the app <https://www.datatilsynet.no/aktuelt/aktuelle-nyheter-2020/vedtar-midlertidig...>. Norway is one of many countries that rushed out apps to trace and monitor the coronavirus this spring, only to scramble to address serious complaints that soon arose over extensive user data-mining or poor security practices. Human rights groups and technologists have warned that the design of many apps put hundreds of millions of people at risk for stalking, scams, identity theft or oppressive government tracking — and could undermine trust in public health efforts. The problems have emerged just as some countries are poised to deploy even more intrusive technologies, including asking hundreds of thousands of workers to wear virus-tracking wristbands <https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-singapore-tech/singapo...> around the clock. ... -- EN ===================================================================== Prof. Enrico Nardelli Dipartimento di Matematica - Universita' di Roma "Tor Vergata" Via della Ricerca Scientifica snc - 00133 Roma tel: +39 06 7259.4204 fax: +39 06 7259.4699 mobile: +39 335 590.2331 e-mail: nardelli@mat.uniroma2.it home page: http://www.mat.uniroma2.it/~nardelli blog: http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/blog/enardelli/ http://link-and-think.blogspot.it/ ===================================================================== --
Il contact tracing applicato al Covid19 ha una quantita’ di difficolta’ in piu’ rispetto ad altre patologie contagiose, tra le altre la grande percentuale di asintomatici ed il fatto che il contatto debba comunque isolarsi per 15 giorni. In questo articolo ripreso dal NEJM un bel sunto ed una riflessione interessante sui fattori psicologici che impattano sulla compliance. https://catalyst.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/CAT.20.0317 Dedurre che l’app sia un palliativo di scarsa efficacia non sarebbe un azzardo roberto From: nexa <nexa-bounces@server-nexa.polito.it> On Behalf Of Enrico Nardelli Sent: Wednesday, July 8, 2020 10:12 AM To: Nexa <nexa@server-nexa.polito.it> Subject: [nexa] NYTimes: Virus-Tracing Apps Are Rife With Problems. Governments Are Rushing to Fix Them. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/technology/virus-tracing-apps-privacy.htm... ---- In April, Norway released a smartphone app, Smittestopp<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=no.simula.smittestopp> or “stop infection,” that records users who come into close contact for more than 15 minutes and sends alerts if they have been exposed to the coronavirus<https://www.nytimes.com/news-event/coronavirus>. “We can all help stop the spread of infection and save lives,” Prime Minister Erna Solberg said<https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/ny-app-vil-stoppe-smitte-raskere/id269...> in a statement at the time. “If many people download the Smittestopp app, we can open up society more and get our freedom back.” Within two weeks, nearly 900,000 people — or about one out of five Norwegians older than 16 — had started using the app<https://www.fhi.no/nyheter/2020/1-av-5-deler-data-fra-smittestopp-appen-med-...>. But by mid-June, the government had temporarily turned off the service after data protection regulators there said Norway had so few coronavirus cases that the risks of intensified surveillance outweighed the app’s as yet unproven public health benefits. This week, the country’s data watchdog formally imposed an interim ban on the app<https://www.datatilsynet.no/aktuelt/aktuelle-nyheter-2020/vedtar-midlertidig...>. Norway is one of many countries that rushed out apps to trace and monitor the coronavirus this spring, only to scramble to address serious complaints that soon arose over extensive user data-mining or poor security practices. Human rights groups and technologists have warned that the design of many apps put hundreds of millions of people at risk for stalking, scams, identity theft or oppressive government tracking — and could undermine trust in public health efforts. The problems have emerged just as some countries are poised to deploy even more intrusive technologies, including asking hundreds of thousands of workers to wear virus-tracking wristbands<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-singapore-tech/singapo...> around the clock. ... -- EN ===================================================================== Prof. Enrico Nardelli Dipartimento di Matematica - Universita' di Roma "Tor Vergata" Via della Ricerca Scientifica snc - 00133 Roma tel: +39 06 7259.4204 fax: +39 06 7259.4699 mobile: +39 335 590.2331 e-mail: nardelli@mat.uniroma2.it<mailto:nardelli@mat.uniroma2.it> home page: http://www.mat.uniroma2.it/~nardelli blog: http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/blog/enardelli/ http://link-and-think.blogspot.it/ ===================================================================== --
participants (2)
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Enrico Nardelli -
Roberto Dolci