Creating a Trusted and Unified Contact Tracing Strategy By Pollyanna Sanderson AsCOVID-19ratesriseacrosstheU.S., itis becomingclearerthatdigitalcontacttracing toolscouldhelpalleviatethecrisis

Creating a Trusted and Unified ContactTracing Strategy

by POLLYANNASANDERSON

As COVID-19 rates sharply increase across the United Texas, and Arizona. To help overcome these limitations, States, it is becoming clearer that digital contact tracing digital tools can supplement traditional contact tracing tools could help alleviate the crisis. In order for digital tools efforts. However, in the absence of a national contact tracing to play a role, however, we need a better national strategy to strategy, nascent digital contact tracing efforts are being ensure adoption, trust, and interoperability. undermined by a lack of interoperability and low adoption

Contact tracing apps around the world are facing due to concerns about privacy, security, and effectiveness. criticism. Some critics allege the apps are not as effective As a first step, digital contact tracing efforts should be as promised. Others raise concerns interoperable between states in about privacy and security. Due order to be effective over time. to the nascency of the proximity As states reopen and individuals tracking technology and the rush increasingly cross state lines to deployment, effectiveness is for travel or work, exposure fairly unknown. But to quote notification apps have to be able Mark Twain, reports of the death to “talk to each other” — that is, of contact tracing apps are greatly for Bluetooth signals sent from exaggerated. Specifically, early one person’s device to be detected reports indicate that decentralized by another person’s device even apps based on the Apple-Google if she or he is using a different Exposure Notification API show app or operating system. This can great promise as tools that could be technically challenging and bolster U.S. states’ contact require substantial financial and tracing efforts with the help of a engineering effort such as Googlecoordinated national strategy. Pollyanna Sanderson Apple’s partnership to create a

Contact tracing is a wellnew Exposure Notification API for established epidemiological decentralized Bluetooth signals method of tracking and containing the spread of a virus during a As COVID-19 rates to be sent and received between devices. pandemic. Traditionally, it works sharply increase across However, in the U.S., current by conducting interviews with the United States, it is efforts are disjointed. Utah, diagnosed individuals to discuss their movements and interactions becoming clearer that North Dakota, and Rhode Island have introduced their own apps so that others who may be at risk digital contact tracing tools that allow the user to share their of exposure (such as family or could help alleviate location history with a contact coworkers) can be notified and take appropriate steps to self-isolate or the crisis. tracer (a “centralized” model). However, these states have faced quarantine. sharp pushback over concerns

However, traditional contact about privacy and security, and as tracing techniques are limited by COVID-19’s long a result have low adoption rates asymptomatic period (10 days). A person speaking with (between 1-4%). These states are also discovering that a contact tracer will often be unable to identify the wide GPS location data is usually not precise enough to measure variety of people, including strangers, they may have person-to-person exposure, particularly indoors and in come into contact with. As shutdown orders are lifted and urban areas where risk of infection is greatest. In contrast, individuals return to work, school, and other activities in Alabama and Virginia have committed to implementing greater numbers, this is a major limitation of traditional apps that use Bluetooth signals through the Apple-Google public health methods, and we already observe COVID-19 API (a “decentralized” model). This follows the model of transmissions rising sharply in places such as Florida, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, and dozens of others.

Decentralized apps are designed to broadcast rotating, randomized Bluetooth identifiers (ID’s) that can be “seen” and recorded by other nearby devices. When a person tests positive, the list of ID’s that their device broadcasted over the past 14 days can be uploaded to a server and accessed by other devices, which can compare this list to their own records and trigger an “exposure notification” for individuals who have been in proximity to the infected person. This allows exposed individuals to take appropriate actions (if they wish), while protecting privacy by avoiding any personal information becoming available to any central authority.

Although some countries have experimented with Bluetooth-based apps that do not use the Google-Apple Exposure Notification API — such as Singapore, France, and Australia — these efforts have largely struggled. This is almost certainly due to technical limitations caused by privacy protections built-in to the device operating systems which prevent Bluetooth from always scanning. The API enables expanded access to Bluetooth scanning, which improves the ability for Apple and Android devices to recognize one another. These compatibility and scalability benefits are key reasons why the UK recently switched from a centralized to a decentralized model.

In contrast, early indicators suggest that countries that have adopted decentralized apps have seen higher adoption rates, fewer concerns about privacy, and greater crossborder app interoperability. For instance, in Germany and Switzerland, adoption rates are as high as 13-20%. Despite early suggestions that adoption rates need to be as high as 60%, recent research from MIT has shown that they can be impactful at lower rates.

Governments around the world are turning to technology in an unprecedented manner to improve the efficiency and accuracy of contact tracing and other wellestablished methods of virus containment. Many countries have implemented detailed national strategies, including the deployment of a single exposure notification app.

Deciding which model is most appropriate depends upon the challenges and needs of each public health authority. However, national leadership is necessary to avoid potentially crippling technological fragmentation in the United States. RF

Pollyanna Sanderson is the Policy Counsel for the Future of Privacy Forum.

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