Thanks for taking the time to type out this response. I had scanned the paper you posted and failed to make the link between success to isolate and adoption of the app. It's messy and a bunch of factors come into play, I now understand this better.
I don't oppose a tracking app (it could be an api baked into the os but let's call it an app to simplify things). Maybe I'm wrong but that paper only addressed the (bio)tech side of things instead of also considering the sociological implications.
If governments rely on this app to do the work of human tracers, I think the initial adoption rate will be high but then fall dramatically. This is the sociological effect I'm talking about. What happens if the app flags them as possibly infected? Can they call a hotline to give them information or is it just some automated crap they hear? How many times do you think someone would get a false positive before they uninstall it? It works using bluetooth. How much power drain on their batteries are they willing to accept?
I see this app as an aid to human contact tracing not as a replacement. Maybe this is a naive interpretation, but I see it more useful in this situation:
vector: "On date X I met with Zoe, Alec and Ronnie"
tracer: "There's a fourth with the same timestamp here"
vector: "A fourth?? I don't remember a.. Oh... right... uncle dave was also there"
The problem is companies and some governments have abused privacy information and now the consequence is that people are more reluctant to give this useful info. That's why you need to study this also from a sociological point of view.
Would those databases also have the option to trace the data back to the origins of that data?
It wouldn't solve the privacy issue but I think if companies are compelled to hold a record from whom they purchased/obtained data, it would help. It would help to determine if the originator had informed consent to share it and also if that included every company in the chain.
Currently if a company 'loses' their data then people who never even interacted with this company gets their data exposed without them knowing. If you're dealing with personal data, why not keep a record how, where and when you obtained it from?
First ask them why they need this system. If it's reasonable then implement rules and laws so it can only be used for this specific purpose.
If the reason for installing it is to prevent theft then they shouldn't have any problems with rules limiting them to this one specific usage and a fine if they used it for anything else (eg. marketing).
We can also make up rules where it is acceptable to use it for marketing (informed consent being the bare minimum).
These things, like face recognition of customers, have a tendency of spinning out of control. They say they originally used it for purpose X but because they have the data... Why not use it for purpose Y and Z?
I don't oppose a tracking app (it could be an api baked into the os but let's call it an app to simplify things). Maybe I'm wrong but that paper only addressed the (bio)tech side of things instead of also considering the sociological implications.
If governments rely on this app to do the work of human tracers, I think the initial adoption rate will be high but then fall dramatically. This is the sociological effect I'm talking about. What happens if the app flags them as possibly infected? Can they call a hotline to give them information or is it just some automated crap they hear? How many times do you think someone would get a false positive before they uninstall it? It works using bluetooth. How much power drain on their batteries are they willing to accept?
I see this app as an aid to human contact tracing not as a replacement. Maybe this is a naive interpretation, but I see it more useful in this situation:
vector: "On date X I met with Zoe, Alec and Ronnie"
tracer: "There's a fourth with the same timestamp here"
vector: "A fourth?? I don't remember a.. Oh... right... uncle dave was also there"
The problem is companies and some governments have abused privacy information and now the consequence is that people are more reluctant to give this useful info. That's why you need to study this also from a sociological point of view.