Contact tracing & privacySafe Paths: A Privacy-First Approach to Contact Tracing
Fast containment is key to halting the progression of pandemics, and rapid determination of a diagnosed patient’s locations and contact history is a vital step for communities and cities. This process is labor-intensive, susceptible to human memory errors, and fraught with privacy concerns. Smartphones can aid in this process, though any type of mass surveillance network and analytics can lead to — or be misused by — a surveillance state.
The research described in this article has been published on a preprint server but has not yet been peer-reviewed by scientific or medical experts.
Fast containment is key to halting the progression of pandemics, and rapid determination of a diagnosed patient’s locations and contact history is a vital step for communities and cities. This process is labor-intensive, susceptible to human memory errors, and fraught with privacy concerns.
Smartphones can aid in this process, though any type of mass surveillance network and analytics can lead to — or be misused by — a surveillance state.
Early contact-tracing tools deployed in certain countries against the current Covid-19 pandemic have indeed helped slow the spread, but have done so at the expense of the privacy of citizens and businesses, exposing even the most private details about individuals.
To help address this urgent challenge, a team led by MIT Media Lab Associate Professor Ramesh Raskar is designing and developing Safe Paths, a citizen-centric, open source, privacy-first set of digital tools and platforms to help stem the spread of Covid-19.
The Safe Paths project is a multi-faculty, cross-MIT effort, with input and expertise from institutes including Harvard University, Stanford University, and the State University of New York at Buffalo; clinical input from Mayo Clinic and Massachusetts General Hospital; and mentors from the World Health Organization, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.
A number of leaders and personnel from the global company EY are volunteering their time across many disciplines, including strategy and inclusion on the core initiative leadership team. Numerous additional companies are also participating in this way, including TripleBlind, Public Consulting Group, and Earned Media Consultants.
Experts from government agencies and academic institutes in Canada, Germany, India, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam are also helping to guide the platform’s development.
