Security News
Governments and organizations are unleashing new technologies to fight the spread of the coronavirus, adding to privacy and data collection concerns. A new Pew Research poll takes a look at the current sentiment regarding these new contact tracing applications and data collection.
Developers who create contact tracing apps using a joint technology from Apple and Google will not be able to track the location of users. The guidelines specifically state: "A Contact Tracing App may not use location-based APIs, may not use Bluetooth functionality, and may not collect any device information to identify the precise location of users. In addition, Contact Tracing Apps are prohibited from using frameworks or APIs in the Apple Software that enable access to personally identifiable information, unless otherwise agreed by Apple."
Apple and Google will ban location-tracking by apps using their new coronavirus contract-tracing API, newly renamed ExposureNotification. In a set of guidelines [PDF] for the API released today, the companies said that developers will not be able to access or even seek permission to access location data using the app.
Germany on Sunday pulled an about-face regarding the best way to use smart phones to trace people's contacts with those infected by COVID-19, embracing a decentralized Bluetooth-based approach instead of the more invasive location tracking proposed in other approaches. Apple and Google first announced their contact tracing collaboration two weeks ago, on 10 April.
The design of Australia's COVIDSafe contact-tracing app creates some unintended surveillance opportunities, according to a group of four security pros who unpacked its. The first-addressed is the decision to change UniqueIDs - the identifier the app shares with other users - once every two hours and for devices to only accept a new UniqueID if the app is running.
With the release of version 3, Vivaldi now comes with a new tracking system that prevents anyone from tracking you as you navigate the web. The most logical approach is to enable tracking and then disable it on a site-by-site basis, when you find a site that doesn't function properly with tracking disabled.
Tech giants Apple and Google have joined forces to develop an interoperable contact-tracing tool that will help individuals determine if they have come in contact with someone infected with COVID-19. Zero Use of Location Data Unlike existing apps developed by different countries that use real-time location tracking to enforce quarantine rules, the proposed system doesn't involve tracking user locations or other identifying data.
In an effort to fend off the coronavirus while getting economies restarted, the world has hit on the same idea: a smartphone app that alerts people if they have been close to someone who has the virus. Not all these apps work in the same way however and with experts saying that to be effective they would have to be used by at least 60 per cent of the population, it is critical that whatever approach is taken is acceptable to a vast majority of the population.
Despite the companies' insistence that privacy will be "Of utmost importance," some in the security space remain wary of data privacy concerns around the newly announced technology. Many such coronavirus tracking apps are already available, such as COVID Symptom Tracker and Private Kit SafePaths.
As the coronavirus pandemic accelerates, authorities worldwide are plotting ways to flatten the curve of infection rates using potentially privacy-busting measures such as phone tracking, facial recognition and other tech. In this Threatpost poll, we want your take on whether sacrificing personal privacy for the public good is worth it.