It’s not like I’m tracking you, or anything, I was just wondering. Hope you’re somewhere safe.
I mean, we are already used to some sort of tracking. About a month ago, as I was about to go all-in on the bake-your-own-bread challenge, I ordered an english cake tin. 30 days later, and I'm still seeing baking ads all over the place.“They” know what I searched, what I bought, what I might want to buy in the future. I don’t mind, it is useful sometimes.
And now, people near me may get to know how my health has been. Which is, clearly, a more serious and delicate subject. It seems that technology's limitations get shorter every day.
Apple and Google, for example, have joined forces to create a new system that would leverage short-range Bluetooth communications in our phones to power a voluntary contact-tracing network: official apps from public health authorities across the globe will get access to this data, and users who download them can report if they’ve been diagnosed with COVID-19, as well as get notified if they (well, their phones) have been near someone diagnosed with it. Here’s a look at what it will look like.
It is not completely clear how widely it will be adopted or if it will help. But several countries are now adopting similar sort of tech tracking measures, centralized or decentralized. Also, all of these measures naturally raise some concerns about privacy and ongoing surveillance, despite claims that they will protect users' identity and data.
Can We Track COVID-19 and Protect Privacy at the Same Time? This title from The New Yorker raises a powerful question.
What do you think? Do you feel safer knowing that technology can help? Or you feel that your privacy is at stake?
I’m honestly curious to know your opinion. But I won’t share it with anyone. Promise.
Regarding where you are or what you bought online last month, you can keep it to yourself.
Stay safe,
Cristina
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