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I basically agree with this. We've already collectively decided to give up our surveillance / tracking information for the purpose of making ad targeting more e

I basically agree with this. We've already collectively decided to give up our surveillance / tracking information for the purpose of making ad targeting more effective. I wish we had a competent, trustworthy set of institutions who could take that data and repurpose it for stopping the spread of Covid-19. Unfortunately, I am not very optimistic about this. There are also people who would misuse this data, and how can we protect the institutions against them? I wish the urgency of the situation could create the will to do this right, but I'm not seeing a lot of positive signs. Science had a related piece recently: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/cellphone-tracking-could-help-stem-spread-coronavirus-privacy-price https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/cellphone-tracking-c... The takeaway I got from it is that some kind of bold action is necessary - creating a voluntary, opt-in tracking app will likely have almost no effect at all.

raphlinus 7y ago
A few other thoughts I want to get across here (I've been thinking about this a lot, and have started drafting a blog post, but probably won't post it because I don't really have answers, only want to encourage people to ask the right questions). A computerized tracking system can't do a lot by itself. It needs to be integrated into deployment of health care services, including testing and treatment for people who get the virus, supporting a small army of people doing contact tracing using a combination of low-tech and high-tech methods, not to mention equipment and supplies. Lastly, I'm surprised Maciej didn't bring up China's experience, as they do have some of this surveillance in place, and it also seems to help them be effective. I've been trying to learn more, but there's precious little in English. There's a "mini program" that is deployed in Alipay called sui shen ban (随申办), seemingly voluntary but with strong incentives. I'm not what the best way forward is for the US, but I do strongly feel we should be talking and thinking about it. If there is a tool that can help significantly and we're not using it, that's a tragedy. [1]: http://www.smartshanghai.com/wire/wellbeing/how-to-get-your-shanghai-color-code http://www.smartshanghai.com/wire/wellbeing/how-to-get-your-...

raphlinus 7y ago

A few other thoughts I want to get across here (I've been thinking about this a lot, and have started drafting a blog post, but probably won't post it because I don't really have answers, only want to encourage people to ask the right questions). A computerized tracking system can't do a lot by itself. It needs to be integrated into deployment of health care services, including testing and treatment for people who get the virus, supporting a small army of people doing contact tracing using a combination of low-tech and high-tech methods, not to mention equipment and supplies. Lastly, I'm surprised Maciej didn't bring up China's experience, as they do have some of this surveillance in place, and it also seems to help them be effective. I've been trying to learn more, but there's precious little in English. There's a "mini program" that is deployed in Alipay called sui shen ban (随申办), seemingly voluntary but with strong incentives. I'm not what the best way forward is for the US, but I do strongly feel we should be talking and thinking about it. If there is a tool that can help significantly and we're not using it, that's a tragedy. [1]: http://www.smartshanghai.com/wire/wellbeing/how-to-get-your-shanghai-color-code http://www.smartshanghai.com/wire/wellbeing/how-to-get-your-...