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Andrew Huang
Singapore TraceTogether Tokens are the latest effort to tackle Covid-19 with technology. But they have also reignited a debate over privacy.
The portable devices complement the existing contact tracking application on the island, to identify people who could have been infected by those who tested positive for the virus.
All users have to do is carry one, and the battery lasts up to nine months without a recharge, something an expert said had “stunned” it.
The government agency that developed the devices recognizes that the Tokens, and technology in general, are not “a silver bullet”, but should increase the efforts of human contact trackers.
The first to receive the devices are thousands of vulnerable older people who do not own smartphones.
To do so, they had to provide their national identification and phone numbers; TraceTogether app users recently had to start doing the same.
If dongle users test positive for the disease, they have to turn in their device to the Ministry of Health because, unlike the app, they cannot transmit data over the Internet.
Human contact trackers will use the records to identify and advise others who may have been infected.
“It is very boring what it does, so I think it is a good design,” says hardware developer Sean Cross.
He was one of four experts invited to inspect one of the devices prior to launch. The group was shown all of its components, but were not allowed to light it.
“It can correlate with who you’ve been with, who you’ve infected, and more importantly, who may have infected you,” adds Cross.
Application help
Singapore was the first country to implement a national coronavirus tracking application.
Local authorities say 2.1 million people have downloaded the software, representing approximately 35% of the population.
It’s voluntary for everyone except dormitory migrant workers, who account for the majority of Singapore’s more than 44,000 infections.
The government says the app helped quarantine some people more quickly than would have been possible.
But by its own admission, the technology doesn’t work as well as expected.
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AFP / Getty Images
Some people have uninstalled the app because it drains battery life
On iPhones, the app must run in the foreground for Bluetooth “handshakes” to occur, which means users can’t use their phones for anything else. It is also a huge battery drain. Android devices don’t face the same problem.
In theory, automated contact tracking can be hugely effective, but only if a large percentage of a population is involved.
Therefore, Apple device owners are likely to be asked, among others, to use dongles in the near future.
Privacy concerns
When the Token was first announced in early June, there was a public backlash against the government, something that is relatively rare in Singapore.
Wilson Low started an online petition asking to be abandoned. Almost 54,000 people have signed.
“All that prevents the Singapore government from becoming a surveillance state is the advent and requires the mandatory use of such a portable device,” the petition said.
“What comes next would be the laws that these devices must not be turned off [and must] remain a person at all times, thus sealing our destiny as a police state. “
The ministers point out that the devices do not record GPS location data or connect to mobile networks, so they cannot be used to monitor a person’s movements.
Cross agrees that, from what they showed him, dongles cannot be used as location trackers.
But he adds that the scheme is even less privacy-focused than a model promoted by Apple and Google, which is being widely adopted elsewhere.
“At the end of the day, the Ministry of Health can go from this secret and cryptic number that only they know, to a phone number, to an individual,” he explains.
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Silver Generation Office (SGO)
By contrast, apps based on the Apple and Google model alert users if they are at risk, but do not reveal their identities to authorities. It is up to people to do it when, for example, they sign up for a test.
Dr. Michael Veale, a digital rights expert at University College London, warns of the potential for mission advancement.
Give an example where a government fighting Covid-19 might want to enforce quarantine control. It could do this, he says, by installing Bluetooth sensors in public spaces to identify dongle users who are away from home and when they should be isolated at home.
“All you have to do is install the physical infrastructure in the world and the data that is collected can be mapped to Singapore identification numbers,” he explains.
“Construction capacity is the worrying part.”
But the official in charge of the agency responsible for TraceTogether minimizes such concerns.
“There is a high-trust relationship between the government and the people, and there is data protection,” says Kok Ping Soon, CEO of GovTech.
He adds that he hopes the public will recognize that the health authorities need this data to protect them and their loved ones.
Another reason why Singapore prefers its own scheme over Apple and Google is that it can provide epidemiologists with a better understanding of the spread of an outbreak.
This was in part the reason why the UK government initially resisted taking the initiative of the tech giants until its own effort to avoid Apple’s Bluetooth restrictions could not be approved.
If Singapore wearables work as expected, other nations may be tempted to follow.
“[With more data]You can make policy decisions that very carefully link restrictions or obligations to high-risk activities only. Otherwise, you have many more powerful tools left, “says privacy expert Roland Turner, another member of the group invited by Singapore to inspect their hardware.
“Perhaps there is a paradoxical consequence that greater freedoms are possible.”
