More than 35,000 people have downloaded the Crush COVID RI phone app that’s designed to make contact tracing easier during the pandemic, but critics have raised concerns that the data might be shared or used in ways that may not have been intended.
State officials say they are trying to get timely contact information and see the new app as a useful tool that protects people’s privacy. No names would be attached to the information, and the state would not store it, according to Gov. Gina M. Raimondo.
At the heart of the app is the “location diary,” which can track where a user has traveled for up to 20 days at a time. The app is the digital version of what Raimondo has been asking people to do for weeks: Keep a logbook of their daily contact with others.
For those who download Crush COVID RI and enable it for tracking, their smartphone will automatically map the addresses of places they’ve stopped for more than 10 minutes. And they could still decide whether to share the information with the R.I. Department of Health, if they’re infected by the coronavirus.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island has raised privacy questions, expressing concern that the app could be used in the future by third parties, including employers.
Steven Brown, R.I. ACLU executive director, asked what protections workers have if an employer requires it to be used. And what guarantees are in place that the Department of Health doesn’t end up sharing the information with law enforcement or other agencies?
“Just as the department has done with addresses in its database of COVID-19 positive individuals,” he said.
‘A program is designed for one thing, and then quickly gets used for other purposes.’
STEVEN BROWN, American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island executive director
Others question whether it’s reliable enough to be useful. Many users have noted that the app doesn’t always record stops accurately.
Dr. Michael Fine, a former state health director, said effective contact tracing requires human contacts.
“It looks like it just records location,” he said. “The question is, will it be able to then get access to enough other people, with data, that will let the Department of Health figure out who else you were in contact with at that place, at the same time?”
The app was designed by a team of state programmers who consulted with Infosys Ltd., an India-based corporation with offices in Providence. The company will not have access to the data, Raimondo said.
Aside from its tracking function, Crush COVID RI also provides health information to users, such as where to obtain a COVID-19 test. And it performs a symptom-tracking function, asking users to self-report their health status, asking them questions such as “How do you feel?” and prompting them to report their ZIP code.
Raimondo said that’s an important tool to help the state know where groups of people are starting to get sick.
“If we are going to get ahead of the virus, we need to know about outbreaks before they happen,” Raimondo said May 19 in introducing the app. “If everyone does that, over time, we’re going to have a good view across the state.”
That will only work if the app is used regularly by people in sufficient numbers. So far, the app has been downloaded by about 3% of the more than 1 million Rhode Island residents.
Brown said the app has important safeguards on the front end – requiring people to twice opt-in before they can be tracked and before that information is shared with the state. It’s what happens on the back end, after it is shared, that can be problematic. The state already has plans to make updates, but Brown questioned how it will be changed in future versions.
“A program is designed for one thing, and then quickly gets used for other purposes,” he said. “That’s something that happens all the time.”
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Macdonald@PBN.com.
