As the U.S. Risks Reopening for Business, Technology Alone Won’t Stop the Coronavirus

OTI senior policy counsel Lauren Sarkesian penned an article in Just Security raising concerns with proposals for app-enabled COVID-19 contact tracing and highlighted what these apps would need first in order to be helpful: mass testing, robust privacy safeguards, and an understanding of whom they leave out.

The effectiveness of Bluetooth technology for contact tracing remains unconfirmed, as Bluetooth sometimes shows connections through walls and when individuals are more than six feet apart, leading to false positives. But Bluetooth data is far more granular than CSLI data, and the apps, done right, could offer much more privacy protection than having the government collect individuals’ location data from providers.

The most significant hurdle in using Bluetooth for contact tracing is that epidemiologists have said at least 60 percent of the country would need to participate in digital contact tracing for it to make an impact. This means over 198 million people would need to have smartphones, download an app, and carry their phones at all times, with Bluetooth enabled.

This raises serious issues related to the digital divide, and leaves out those who need protection most. While 81 percent of Americans now own smartphones, the population without smartphones is largely made up of lower-income people and seniors, the same populations that are at highest risk and hit hardest by coronavirus. Similarly, digital literacy is low among these populations. And, troubling new data shows that COVID-19 is disproportionately infecting and killing minorities, exacerbating the racial health disparities already present in our system.

It is commendable that use of the Bluetooth-enabled app systems would be voluntary, since that would protect privacy more effectively. But implementation would require a level of trust in government that seems extremely unlikely given the current political atmosphere. Misinformation and distrust, especially rooted in – and contributing to — political divisions, have already been at play during the spread of coronavirus. If many different state- or county-blessed apps are floating around in a patchwork-type approach, providing varying wording of notifications and advisories based on local public health policies, this could compound Americans’ confusion.