April 23, 2020
Tracking coronavirus exposure is vital to suppressing the spread of the disease. Many countries have utilized personal smartphone data as a medium of tracking who has the virus, who has been exposed through contact, and who may need isolation. The practice has been praised for creating positive health outcomes but has raised real concerns over what measures should be enacted to protect data privacy.
Riddhiman Das, founder of the encryption company TripleBlind, has developed a new technology that addresses these concerns by creating a privacy shield that enables community health organizations to collect and analyze vital health information from smartphones in an encrypted format. The population using the technology can help health officials determine who has been exposed to the virus without giving away private location, GPS, or Bluetooth signal information.
“This is an attempt to show the world that number one, you don’t necessarily need to build a surveillance state to track COVID-19. Number two, all of this is able to be done in a completely decentralized, privacy-first way,” said Das.
Learn more about Das’ encryption technology in this Money 20/20 podcast episode.