COVID19: People-tracking wristbands tested to enforce lockdown

[Parsh]

The rising scenario of Wearables and Trac(k)ing ...

Bulgaria is the latest country to test a wristband that can track people during the coronavirus pandemic. The trial in Bulgaria will use Comarch LifeWristbands, developed in Poland.
Up to 50 residents in Sofia will be given a device that can record their movements using GPS satellite location data.
As well as confirming a person is staying at home, the device can monitor the wearer's heart rate and be used to call the emergency services.

Several nations are testing similar wristbands to make sure people are obeying orders to stay at home.
South Korea and Hong Kong have also been using electronic trackers to enforce quarantine.
In South Korea, people found to be violating quarantine rules can be ordered to wear a tracking band.

The device was introduced after people were caught leaving their smartphones at home to avoid detection.
The band can alert the authorities if the wearer leaves home or tries to remove the device.
Wearable devices could also help the adoption of contact tracing.
Campaign groups including Privacy International, have warned that the pandemic could be used as a "power grab" by some governments. It has said new measures should be "temporary, necessary, and proportionate".

Other places testing wearable gadgets include:

• Belgium, where residents are testing a social distancing wristband that vibrates if it comes within 3m (9.8ft) of another band
• Lichtenstein, where one in 10 residents will be given a band to track "temperature, breathing and heart rate, and transmit it to a lab in Switzerland for further investigation". Later this year, a further 38,000 residents will be given a band
• India, which has announced plans to manufacture thousands of location and temperature-monitoring bands for people in quarantine
• Hong Kong, where police can be alerted if people wearing an electronic band leave the house while under quarantine

Apple and Google have proposed a privacy-focused method using Bluetooth to automate the process, which the UK's NHSX is also exploring.
However, about 12% of smartphones in the UK lack the Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) functionality needed for it to work.
Some researchers suggest simple Bluetooth wristbands could be used by people who do not own a smartphone.

 

[scorpionv]

Quick, get me smartphone without BTLE