Data tracking during pandemic
Posted May 7, 2020 8:30 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WINNIPEG (CITYNEWS) – Data tracking in the fight against COVID-19 undeniably could be a powerful tool as we navigate life through a pandemic.
A Winnipeg man living in Taiwan, says the government there is collecting data without asking permission and he admits, it’s making him feel safer.
“It’s being put to good use, there is lots of examples of big data being used here really effectively in the fight against the virus,” explained Dirk Friesen.
Friesen got an alert on his cellphone from the Taiwanese government telling him that his phone and a COVID-19 infected persons cellphone had pinged the same cell tower and it was possible he had overlapped with the virus.
Friesen was quickly prompted to call a government hotline that provided him a website with specific times and locations of where the COVID-19 infected person had been.
“You could see on there, that one of the infected people was at a hot pot restaurant probably a block and a half away from us at the same time.”
Friesen added he luckily did not contract the virus.
In a recent article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests Taiwan’s use of big data analytics and cellphone tracking helped officials contain the virus’ spread.
Friesen says due to Taiwan’s close proximity to China, initial estimates of the virus spreading were much higher than what’s been seen. Adding, that understandably the level of trust a person has in their government would make them more or less inclined to be okay about data being used without their consent.
“There have been concerns expressed here about that, but they have said outright as soon as this is over it will stop and everything will be erased,” Friesen explained.
As provinces in Canada consider using tracing apps to help fight the pandemic, some people in provinces like Alberta where a tracing app was launched at the start of the month, are showing their concerns.
“Most of us are being traced all the time anyway,” said technology expert at the University of Calgary, Dr. Tom Keenan.
He says other governments like Singapore are doing mandatory digital contact tracing on citizens. While that wouldn’t be possible in Canada.
“The good side is obvious if somebody finds out that they test positive for COVID they are not going to remember all the grocery stores they went to and who they met on the street and so on. The downside of course is that information is being collected.
“The government might love this app, they might love having data on us so much that they pass a law in the future saying you must have this app on your phone.”
In a news release, privacy commissioner of Canada Daniel Therrien said, “technology can be part of the solution to address the covid-19 pandemic and notes that the health crisis calls for a flexible and contextual application of privacy laws.”
Friesen, says its pretty much life as normal in Taiwan, there hasn’t been any lockdowns in the region, people are going to work and kids are going to school. Social distancing is working and citizens are being vigilant about safety protocols.
“It’s a matter of them always wearing their masks, always disinfecting and lots and lots of temperature takings.”
