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Ask HN: Can we not build a contact tracing app that respects privacy?

1 pointsby ploucabout 5 years ago
Every time the medias mention location-tracing apps, they say it's a threat to privacy and personal autonomy. I am not a security engineer, but my understanding is that it's entirely possible to build an application that's anonymous (see: https://ncase.me/contact-tracing/) Yet, medias don't relay that. Am I missing something?

2 comments

rofwsabout 5 years ago
Yes it&#x27;s entirely possible to build an app that is anonymous.<p>What&#x27;s missing is the legal framework to prioritise this anonymity (during emergencies like this pandemic), the political will (long shot) and the understanding the general population have about privacy in general.<p>The last point in also somewhat debatable, since people are scared currently. So, without having a certain level of knowledge about the technology and the implications of lack of privacy, they&#x27;re more likely to &#x27;barter&#x27; their privacy for security against getting infected.
fjfaaseabout 5 years ago
To me it seems that the most important reason is that most medias are not interested in informing and&#x2F;or educating the public, but in attracting readers so they are going to see the advertisements that generate their revenues. You will not see a media proclaim: the tracking our website does, is a greater danger to your privacy than the tracking apps.