ESSENTIAL CONTACT TRACING FEATURES
What are the ten of the most important use cases and essential features for any good contact tracing technology?
- 1. Contact tracing — Technologies like phone masts, GSM attributes, GPS coordinates, or even Bluetooth are all used for contact tracing, with varying degrees of quality and effectiveness. For example, can GPS account for people separated by a wall? Probably not as easily as Bluetooth. A transparent policy on how long any such data can be stored and accessed is something that should be considered in any organization.
- 2. Test authentication — It is important to identify which tests are being used to certify visitors as Covid-negative before they have permission to enter your location, as well as calibrate how it was administered. Did an authorized tester administer this particular test? Contact tracing technology can deliver this information automatically.
- 3. Privacy — There must be sufficient transparency and privacy checks to guarantee that visitors' accessible data isn't linked to other sensitive data that they consider private. Contact tracing efforts being recommended by Health Authorities could also provide useful information to law enforcement or tax officials. It is important to be clear to your visitors and employees about who has access to their information, and how it is being stored. This can all be easily automated through contact tracing technology.
- 4. COVID-19 certifications — Instituting a COVID-19 certification or “passport” is a tactic being employed at some organiztions. This should be designed to confirm the status of a test for a specific person. Cell phones present the most convenient method of implementing this, but any system should also account for individuals who aren't carrying phones.
- 5. Workplace and Supply Chain Safety — Contact tracing is necessary both inside and outside of your physical location. The workspaces that implement contact tracing most effectively will maintain the ability to physically section off parts of their buildings so that infected individuals only come into contact with a few others. Furthermore, communities will need to validate supply chain safety by ensuring efficient distribution routes and reducing contamination risks.
- 6. Fraud ID — In the case that COVID-19 passports are being implemented, securely identifying individuals will be crucial in preventing fraud. Face-recognition technology is preferred to digital fingerprints due to the risk of spreading viruses through fingerprint sensors. New technologies could provide solutions that balance public privacy and safety, like cameras that recognize faces without recording visitors.
- 7. Data aggregation — Contact tracing technology can aggregate data from several sources and verify it. Apps can collect up-to-the minute symptom data, as well as infection, recovery, and fatality rates from desired locations and parameters. Location data collectors can provide detailed location and traffic data for millions of unique users for individual locations.
- 8. Process and Policy Development — Contact tracing technology and tools are updated dynamically as needs and implementation methods shift, and the balance between privacy and security is refined. Health and policy officials require simulations for A/B testing on a variety of factors and conditions. Furthermore, improvements in algorithms has fostered more effective, targeted research. Real-time policy-sharing is critical to maintaining organizational trust.
- 9. Oversight and evaluation — Bodies providing oversight on the ethics of contact tracing technologies will be essential in developing public trust. Clearly stating policies and methods will also allow experts to collaborate worldwide. Citizens, contact tracing experts, and civil liberty and privacy advocates should all have input on which privacy and security measures are upheld in contact tracing.
- 10. Integration with other use cases — The data infrastructure acquired and maintained through contact tracing technology could be aggregated to a variety of other use cases in the future. It is essential that any COVID-19 contact tracing is incompatible with any service that might harvest its data, so that visitors are protected from such a potential overreach and invasion of privacy.
How can you get your employees to actually use a contact tracing app?
Many new technologies and applications are great ideas, but they fail because they are unable to achieve a critical mass of engaged users.
According to the Harvard Business Review, “Unless we fundamentally rethink how COVID-19 contact tracing apps are being designed, launched, and scaled, the vast majority” will fail. In the US, government mandates to download a contact tracing app are untenable, but these apps require a certain percentage of users in a target community in order to be effective.
So, how can businesses help prevent the spread of COVID-19 (and demonstrate their dedication to maintaining a safe workplace environment for employees and visitors) through contact tracing technologies in a productive, effective way?
One essential component is to communicate to users at all times that you are protecting their privacy. The more users who know that their privacy is being protected, the more inclined they will be to use the contact tracing app.
In order to be successful, a contact tracing platform or app must also take a targeted, comprehensive approach – or “nearly ubiquitous” in a community, as HBR puts it.
Instead of launching such efforts in a broad and indiscriminate fashion, they should be focused on contained, related communities where they could provide instant worth, like religious congregations, workplaces, schools, restaurants, hotels, airplanes, etc.
If they are targeted in such a narrow fashion, the app can feasibly reach 100% adoption in an individual community, and other such apps can be connected and scaled up at a regional or even national level.
How Autonix can help you create a targeted approach to 'contact tracing'
With the contact tracing capabilities of Autonix, you can seamlessly implement a uniquely targeted approach to contact tracing that integrates into your current, pre-existing suite of business tools.
Maintain a safe workplace environment for employees and visitors, while clearly telling them that you will value their privacy concerns. With Autonix, you can easily customize your own detailed balance between privacy and security, while maintaining a high level of preparation for any contact tracing efforts you may need to undertake.
Request a demo or start with our free plan today!