Workplaces are turning to devices to monitor social distancing, but does the tech respect privacy?

 As we emerge from isolation from the coronavirus, those of us who still have a job may not recognize it. Companies looking to limit employee and customer liability are looking at various new technologies to limit the spread of the pandemic.

These technologies can be roughly divided into two types: one is based on mobile phone technology, and the other is based on wearable devices such as electronic bracelets and watches. Both approaches focus on maintaining social distancing, nominally six feet, between any two workers, as recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and supported by some models.

Most workers will have little opportunity to participate in risk mitigation from the employer. As a network and security researcher, I believe it is very important that both employees and employers understand the technologies used, their effectiveness in reducing the risk of infection, and the risks they can pose to the privacy and well-being of all participants.

Technologies

Social distancing technologies are designed to alert workers when they get too close to each other, usually relying on communications that can only travel short distances. Thus, if your device can “hear” someone else's device, it is considered too close to the other person and potentially infected.

Perhaps the most promising communication technology for social distancing is ultra-wideband, which can accurately measure the distance between devices. The more common carrier is Bluetooth Low Energy, which is used for headphones and portable speakers, although it may give accurate distance information less consistently depending on the environment.

Finally, the sound itself can be used to determine the distance to other people, just like bats use the echo to identify obstacles in their flight path, with the advantage that it respects the limits of walls and doors just like the coronavirus.

Modern mobile phones can usually communicate using Bluetooth Low Energy technologies and sound. The latest iPhones also support ultra-wideband.

Contact-tracing applications used to alert people of contact with an infected person typically use these tools in a flexible manner. These include privacy and security-focused approaches or accurate distance measurements using sound beyond the range of human hearing. More recently, Apple and Google have come to grips with their own approach, which also addresses some of the technical problems that seem to require the two tech giants to collaborate.

Wearable devices, which are more limited devices that a person can wear, such as a bracelet or ring, can also be used for social distancing. Popular portable workplace devices can be programmed to sound or alert employees when they are less than six feet close to each other. These include Halo, Estimote, and Covid Radius. Other devices track health indicators such as heart rate, body temperature, or movement.

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