Security News > 2020 > March > It's time to track people's smartphones to ensure they self-isolate during this global pandemic, says WHO boffin

That's according to Professor Marylouise McLaws, a technical adviser to the World Health Organization's Infection Prevention and Control Global Unit.

McLaws - a professor at the University of New South Wales' School of Public Health and Community Medicine in Australia, and a member of European, US and UK epidemiology and infection control bodies - told The Register tracking played a key role in nations that were able to flatten the exponential curve of COVID-19 cases - particularly Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea.

To enforce the stay-at-home notices, officials told people to enable location services on their smartphones and periodically click on a link sent by SMS. That link reported their location, confirming they were in fact staying at home.

Messages must be responded to in a short period of time to prevent people cheating by leaving their phones behind while they ventured outside.

"Reporting people you see puts you at odds with the people we live with. Electronic monitoring is much kinder." .

News URL

https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/03/23/track_phones_coronavirus_who/