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1/ I've been asked multiple times by media this week the same question:

"Can we replicate S. Korea's contact tracing programme?"

My answer: probably not as efficiently.

Why? S. Korean law allows for warantless access to private data during times like these. Does your country?
2/ I am NOT an expert on contact tracing, but here's a nutshell of what's going. We had MERS in 2015. Government needed to rethink strategy of containing virus in case it or something bigger occurred again. Privacy laws were loosened. voanews.com/science-health…
3/ The result? Pervasive personal data collection. Government is allowed to look into your credit card records, phone GPS data, medical records, CCTV etc if in public interest during epidemics.
4/ If you test positive for coronavirus, authorities would at first grill you for details of your whereabouts to try under who/what/when/where/how. Would also cooperate with credit card companies, police, etc in order to get the information they needed. Time-consuming, up to 24h.
5/ Regardless, authorities are able to make super detailed reports about the exact path coronavirus patients have taken, and if necessary, contact and test anyone evaluated to have potentially been exposed to the virus. We saw this with Shincheonji and at a Seoul call centre.
6/ The routes are really accurate. They tell you where the person was, what time, what bus they took, what cafe they visited, what hotel they checked into, what burger joint they ate at.

7/ These localised alerts get sent to our phones. You cannot really opt out of these alerts (some phone can turn them off, some say they can't). Everyone's phone will go off in unison telling you of a new case nearby and where that person was.
8/ Since end of March, the government has switched system: it is now able to track your exact movements within 10 minutes. Credit card/telco companies provide instant access to data, all automatic.
9/ Government is able to automatically and quickly identify transmission routes/places the infected person has visited by using real-time analysis of data such as GPS, mobile information and credit-card transaction history to conduct a spatial-temporal analysis.
10/ The big data analysis allows officials real-time data feeds on COVID-19 patients, including their whereabouts and the time spent at each location. From these multiple data points, the system can detect incidents of cluster infection and show the source of transmission.
11/ Privacy: gov says it is strict to protect privacy. Access to platform is granted to only a few officials. Runs on a private network "to shield the system from hacking and adopts advanced security technologies like double firewalls as well as a thorough management of log-ins".
12/ "Abuse of personal information can be prevented
as the activities of each user is under strict surveillance".

South Korean government says all the personal data stored in the platform will be deleted once the COVID-19 official response is over.
13/ There's talk now in other countries of introducing contact tracing using apps that people can install, optional to "opt-in".

The way I see it is, it's all or nothing. It takes one person to slip through the net and infect the rest.
14/ Also: I do not know about other countries, but I'm guessing there are not many places with systems in place like this, especially in Western countries where the debate about privacy is still ongoing, while people cases are increasing and people are dying.
15/ Regardless about the privacy issue, contact tracing was set up from the very start in South Korea. From the very first patient. Countries with mass outbreaks are only now considering it, as well as apps etc.

This should have been considered well before people started dying.
16/ Today, South Korea recorded 18 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. A massive sigh of relief. But this is by no means the end of the crisis in South Korea.

Privacy was never really an issue in South Korea. Safety was.

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