The new corona: can't the location information of the smartphone identify the infected contact? (peace blog)-personal-Yahoo! Journalism

As a measure to prevent novel coronavirus from spreading infection, the behavior tracking of infected people and contacts who use smartphone location information has attracted much attention. But location intelligence, data accuracy, etc., become bottlenecks and unexpectedly cannot be used--

Around the measures that countries have begun to take to make use of location information, the US Human Rights Defense Group summarized such a report on the 8th.

From the perspective of the balance between the prevention of the expansion of life-related infections and the protection of privacy, there has been an international discussion about what is known and what effect can be expected based on location information.

The report concludes that although the effect of location information is limited, the invasion of privacy can cause damage such as witch hunting, which can be counterproductive.

Events such as collective infection and defamation have also taken place in China.

If it becomes the target of criticism because of infected information disclosure, it will also lead to a retrogression of disclosure.

What do you want to do?

The report summarizes the American Freedom and Human Rights Association (ACLU), an American human rights advocacy organization.

The report collates five key points when using data.

(1) the purpose of the data: to grasp the overall tendency, or to track the actions of infected people, to identify contacts, or to impose travel restrictions.

(2) the type of data: whether it is statistical data anonymous data, or can determine personal identification information, or fixed-point location information.

(3) data acquisition: whether the data is obtained by the government or shared with research institutions, and the original data is managed by the acquisition source.

(IV) use of data: is it used to judge measures taken by the central government, such as issuing travel restrictions and punishing violators? Is there any disclosure of information about the judgment and inspection of people who are likely to be infected?

(5) data preservation: is the data preservation period and deletion plan clear for use purposes?

What do you want to do, what data do you need, how to use it, what effect you can expect, and what kind of data protection you can impose?

These key points are not limited to novel coronavirus's countermeasures and will be questioned in all situations where data are used.

Moreover, various options can be envisioned according to their use and effectiveness.

Measure the accuracy of "1 meter"

First of all, as a tentative script, on the basis of obtaining the location information of large-scale people, identify the characters who are close to the infected person, and take measures such as notification, inspection, isolation and so on.

In mid-March, the Israeli government said that smartphone tracking technology, which will be developed to combat terrorism, will also be used to track novel coronavirus's infection as a 30-day time limit.

Opposition parties and human rights groups have issued fierce criticisms.

Reference: the New Corona: the New Daily of infection tracking Digital Surveillance (03max 25amp 2020 newsprint)

In addition, Israel's NSO Group, known as a maker of spy clothing, has developed software as a new civilian product to identify people close to infected people, according to Bloomberg. It is said that about 10 countries are considering adopting it.

However, as a problem point, the report points out the accuracy of location information such as smartphones.

The World Health Organization (WHO) gives examples of "face-to-face within 1 meter or more than 15 minutes", "direct physical contact" and so on.

Moreover, with regard to the "social distance" as a response to infection, "a minimum distance of 1 meter" is recommended by the Ministry of Health and Labor and the United States Disease response Center (CDC).

However, based on the location information of smartphones, it seems difficult to ensure this level of accuracy.

Be mistaken for a "strong contact"

When getting location information on a smartphone, use base station, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth and other data.

The setting density of the base station connected by the smart phone through wireless communication is different in cities and mountain areas, so it is impossible to determine whether the users of the two terminals are close or not.

In addition, the error of the GPS is also considered to be 1 meter in the theoretical value, but according to the location information of the smartphone, it starts at 5 meters and has a width of 20 meters depending on the conditions.

However, errors can be suppressed by using both GPS data and WiFi and Bluetooth location information.

As a more reliable method, there is also a way to track mobile resumes by reading the QR code of health status indicated by "green", "yellow" and "red" from smartphones at every checkpoint at the entrance of vehicles and buildings, as used in China.

However, if it is China's political system, this aspect is very strong and requires a lot of manpower.

No matter which method, the location information with the accuracy of "1 meter" used to determine the contact with the infected person can not be obtained.

Therefore, if the contact is determined automatically according to the position information, misrecognition may also occur.

In the location intelligence tracking of the Israeli counter-terrorism app, an infected, self-quarantined boyfriend, a woman waving from outside the apartment, was misjudged as "contact" and ordered not to go out.

After all, in order to reach the contact, it takes a lot of manpower to select the data.

The report points out:

The database of business location information is collected for advertising, etc. Therefore, there is no precision as the basis for judging who has strong contact with whom.

Be suspected of having an affair

It is also envisaged that location information is used to accurately identify the gait of a newly found infected person.

However, the disclosure of data that is too detailed for its purpose can also cause unexpected damage.

In South Korea, the government collects information on the location of infected people. Instead of determining contact from location information and notifying local residents in the message application's behavior history of "anonymization", the resident side checks the possibility of contact, taking such an approach.

In addition, there are applications and websites that aggregate this information on maps.

However, even if proper nouns are hidden, individuals may be identified by their behavior history and accompanying information.

The British BBC reported that the South Korean government's disclosure of information on the infected also included "sexual harassment lecturer infection", "stay in the bar before 11:00 at night" and other action resumes.

In addition, on the Internet, extramarital relationships are also discussed by checking action resumes.

As a result, the Guardian said that privacy exposure was "more frightening than novel coronavirus himself".

Monitor "No going out"

There are also situations where location information is used to implement "no going out", mobility control and intensive control.

In this regard, assume various levels of data, from personal data to statistical data.

However, enhanced surveillance on a mandatory basis based on law will lead to resentment among citizens and division between governments, which is counterproductive for the original purpose of preventing the spread of infection.

If the incentives to declare infection and curb further infection are reduced, counter measures such as turning off the location information of smartphones seen as "monitoring tools" and cutting off power will be taken, the warning said.

Another way is not to use location information to track contact with infected people.

Singapore has released a "trailing atlas" of mobile applications developed by the Government's Office of Technology and the Ministry of Health.

Using Bluetooth, anonymous ID is automatically exchanged between close applications, taking advantage of the infection path and the specific nature of strong contacts if the infected person is found.

However, the communication distance of Bluetooth is considered to be 10 meters, with a maximum of 100 meters depending on the specification. Like GPS, there is a problem of accuracy.

In addition, the government will access the data of the users who installed the application, especially the detailed data about infected people.

"the government uses these data only for public health purposes, but there are no restrictions on their use for reasons such as law enforcement agencies," the report said.

How to use statistical data

The report also lists options for the use of location information as statistical data. According to the population dynamics such as human movement, the formulation of movement restrictions and the determination of the effect are carried out.

In this case, depending on the population density, it has nothing to do with privacy, but also needs to pay attention to the form in which the data is provided.

At the end of March, in order to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus infection, the Japanese cabinet, the Ministry of General Affairs, the Ministry of Health and Labor, and the Ministry of economy, Trade and Industry jointly required platform operators and mobile phone companies to provide statistical data.

For the purpose of its utilization, the following three points are listed.

Verify the effectiveness of social distance assurance measures such as going out self-discipline requirements.

Verify the effectiveness of the measures implemented as cluster countermeasures

Improve the accuracy of cluster countermeasures to be implemented in the future

This request is only targeted at statistics that do not match personal information, but "additional requests for data are also possible if needed in the future".

The European Union has asked mobile phone companies to provide statistics. We are working on the rules of operation in the area.

The United States has also begun to take action to accept smartphone location information data from the mobile advertising industry at the federal, state and local levels, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Based on these, the ACLU report reached such a conclusion.

In this crisis, there is an urgent need to seriously study how science and technology can help improve public health. In order to conduct research, it is necessary to see from a realistic perspective what technology and data can and cannot do. Otherwise, while there are simpler and effective countermeasures, there is also a danger that attention will be taken away from there and expertise and financial resources will be wasted.

The risk of "attacking infected people"

Location information and action curriculum vitae, according to the practice of information disclosure, become risk factors accompanied by serious privacy violations and actual harm, as a result, the backward air spreads to the public.

Although it is not location information, the disclosure of action resumes is accompanied by cases of serious actual harm, which has also been reported in Japan.

At Kyoto University of Technology, where the collective infection is clear, there are a large number of phone calls and emails, as well as threatening content such as "tell me the name and address of the infected student" and "go to the hospital."

The ACLU report also points out this.

The so-called good public health measures are to promote and declare diseases and make full use of the attitudes of those who play a role in preventing the spread of infection.

The situation that the infected person becomes the target of attack is precisely the risk factor for the infection countermeasure.

(revised and reprinted from newsprint on April 9, 2020)