S2E6 - Coronavirus - Ride Sharing & Tracking The Spread

May 8, 2020 Lydia Shompole

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This week we’ll be doing a deep dive into the tech side of Coronavirus specifically how companies and governments are using apps to track, monitor & assist with slowing down the spread of the virus also known as COVID-19.

Since the end of December 2019, media outlets have been discussing the spread of a respiratory virus after the World Health Organization was alerted by the Chinese Government.

According to an article on the Pharmaceutical Technology website, “The 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), officially named as Covid-19 by the WHO, has spread to 97 more countries apart from China alarming public health authorities across the world.”

As of April 13, 2020, “The number of confirmed positive cases of number of COVID-19 cases surpassed 1.85 million globally with a death toll of more than 110,000 people, bringing many countries around the world to a complete lock-down.”

Now, as of April 25th, 2020 “Globally, there are now over 2,721,000 total confirmed cases of Covid-19 and more than 191,000 deaths reported.”

But let’s begin with what it is, why everyone is on edge and how it spreads before we get to the tech side of things.

Now, in the past there have been other cases of corona viruses, this term is used to describe a large family of viruses which all cause similar symptoms in individuals. AppState.edu explains that, “The official name for the disease is coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The official name for the virus is severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus.” Which might sound familiar if you remember the SARs & MERs epidemics that occurred in the early 2000’s.

Corona Virus 19 is also referred to as COVID-19 a shortened version of this particular virus name. One of the most important questions is, how does COVID-19 spread? The CDC websites explains that, “The first infections were linked to a live animal market, but the virus is now spreading from person-to-person. It’s important to note that person-to-person spread can happen on a continuum. Some viruses are highly contagious (like measles), while other viruses are less so. The virus that causes COVID-19 seems to be spreading easily and sustainably in the community (“community spread”) in some affected geographic areas. Community spread means people have been infected with the virus in an area, including some who are not sure how or where they became infected.”

Meaning those in close contact (typically 6 feet) with infected individuals, for prolonged periods of time have a higher chance of becoming infected.

Which is one of the reasons that governments and the CDC/WHO are requiring infected individuals to self-quarantine for 14 days.

Symptoms can range from mild to severe, and from what has been reported the symptoms can include the following:

1. mild to severe respiratory illness

2. Fever1 of (100 degrees or more)

3. cough, and

4. difficulty breathing

Now, this doesn’t sound too different from the common cold or flu, which we’ve seen being reported by some media outlets such as Healthline.com who released an article titled, “Why You Don’t Need to Panic About the New Coronavirus”, as well as large names in the medical industry. According to John Hopkins Medicine, “As of Mar. 8, 2020, the flu is showing much more of an impact on Americans than COVID-19.”

What are the numbers? Well, the seasonal flu infects an, “Estimated 1 billion cases worldwide; 9.3 million to 45 million cases in the U.S. per year….” Killing a rough total of “291,000 to 646,000 deaths worldwide; 12,000 to 61,000 deaths in the U.S. per year.”

Looking at the numbers, John Hopkins isn’t entirely incorrect by making this statement. However, the key difference between the flu and COVID-19 is that we were simply, unaware and unprepared for such a quickly spreading, previously unknown virus like COVID-19. Scientists have been studying and creating vaccines for the seasonal flu since the early 1900’s. The first flu vaccine was created in 1938, and ever since then, as new flu strains emerge, scientists are ready and able to adapt their blue print to modify current vaccines.

Meaning that most individuals today can choose to get the seasonal flu shot to protect themselves against new flu strains quickly. Additionally, due to the availability of resources and information, most of us are well versed in how to deal with flu symptoms, how to recover from the flu and when to seek help.

But since COVID-19 has never been seen before, we simply do not know what to do, and this is what has caused the worldwide panic, which is affecting every industry in existence.

Okay, enough of that! Let’s get into the darker side of this whole pandemic.

We literally have every known resource available to us in the palms of our hands, the world wide web has provides access to a wealth of information that is as incredible as it is terrifying.

On a regular day, I can pull out my phone, request a ride to some destination and viola, I step outside and there is a car waiting to drive me there. It’s safe to say that ride sharing apps have become an essential part of our society. They’ve been able to integrate seamlessly into our day to day lives almost to the point that we often don’t pause to question the dangers that we may be opening ourselves up to.

As I was scrolling through my news feeds recently, one article in particular caught my attention. The title, “Uber suspending some rider accounts to fight spread of coronavirus” and of course I just had to read it.

The article on Digital Trends began with the statement, “Uber is doing its bit to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus by temporarily suspending the accounts of riders if it believes they may have come into contact with someone carrying the virus…. In Mexico, for example, Uber suspended the accounts of 240 riders that it said used one of two Uber vehicles that carried someone suspected of having the virus.

The article continues on to explain that at the time, there had been no confirmed cases of infected individuals in Mexico, but that Uber simply believed that since the individuals may have carried someone who was infected, that they may have been infected while working.

Now this poses a very interesting dilemma for both Uber and those working for the ride sharing company. As I read on, I began to think about the amount of information Uber would need to be collecting on each and every one of us to be able to make such a decision. So began my dive into Uber’s privacy policy to see exactly what they collect and how they use it:

The privacy policy states that Uber collects:

Data provided by users to Uber, such as during account creation
- We may use the photos submitted by drivers and/or delivery partners to verify their identities, such as through facial recognition technologies.
- Demographic data: We may collect demographic data about users, including through user surveys. In some countries, we may also receive demographic data about users from third parties.

Data created during use of our services, such as location, app usage, and device data
- We collect precise or approximate location data from a user’s mobile device if enabled by the user to do so. For drivers and delivery partners, Uber collects this data when the Uber app is running in the foreground (app open and on-screen) or background (app open but not on-screen) of their mobile device.
- For riders, delivery recipients, and renters, Uber collects this data when the Uber app is running in the foreground.
- Uber may also collect this data when the Uber app is running in the background of the user’s mobile device. Riders, delivery recipients, and renters may use the Uber apps without enabling Uber to collect location data from their mobile devices.

Data from other sources, such as Uber partners and third parties that use Uber APIs
- We collect data about how users interact with our services. This includes data such as access dates and times, app features or pages viewed, app crashes and other system activity, type of browser, and third-party sites or services used before interacting with our services. In some cases, we collect this data through cookies, pixels, tags, and similar tracking technologies that create and maintain unique identifiers.
- We enable users to communicate with each other and Uber through Uber’s mobile apps and websites
- To provide this service, Uber receives some data regarding the calls, texts, or other communications, including the date and time of the communications and the content of the communications. Uber may also use this data for customer support services (including to resolve disputes between users), for safety and security purposes, to improve our products and services, and for analytics.
- They may also collect information from “Publicly available sources.” Meaning things like social media profiles, google searches etc… If you posted it, its fair game…

The privacy policy also states that they may share any of the information collected from you, to prevent or protect users and drivers from harm, with “law enforcement officials, public health officials, other government authorities, airports (if required by the airport authorities as a condition of operating on airport property), or other third parties as necessary to enforce our Terms of Service, user agreements, or other policies.”

Reading through this its evident that with the amount of information Uber collects on every single user or driver, it would be easy for them to make a calculated estimate of exactly which users and drivers may be at higher risks for infections, leading to the suspensions of their accounts immediately.

What was most interesting to me is that considering that the wide spread use of ride sharing apps is relatively new, these companies have not dealt with pandemics of this scale before meaning they haven’t had to formulate a plan on how to address and minimize the risk of infections to individuals.

At the time of the article, Uber had no plan on how to compensate drivers that all of a sudden lost their income as a result of an estimated assumption of infection which lead to account suspension.

According to an article on The Daily Beast, it was not clear whether Uber had contacted each driver and over 240 of the passengers to alert them they may have come into contact with an infected individual.

I believe that in situations such as this one, companies should be required to alert each individual, provide assistance with testing & clearly communicating with all affected parties the available resources and a clear plan for the next steps. However, companies in the gig economy may argue that freelancers are not covered by the same regulating rules that employees have. Since they are not actual employees of their respective companies, the loophole does exist and over the past few years, gig workers have been fighting against this. We are all entitled to safe working environments, and companies placing our health and wellbeing at risk should be required to at the very least provide an assurance of safety or a plan on how they can assist us when things do go wrong.

On April 12th, 2020 Uber updated its sick leave policy to clarify the terms by which they would be compensating their drivers during this time.

According to the Uber website they have made the following changes to their policies:

1. Uber, “Launched a new Work Hub in the Driver app, which can help you find more work opportunities—whether with other Uber services like Uber Eats or even at another company. We’re also developing resources to help make it easier for you to request financial assistance now available from many governments.”

2. They have, “Begun distributing free disinfectants to drivers, and we’ve purchased tens of millions of ear loop face masks.” Stating that at this time the supply does not meet the demand, they are actively working to provide this service to all drivers as quickly as possible.

3. They have, “also launched COVID-19 Resources, an in-app resource center dedicated to safety information and updates from us.”

4. “Over the last month, we’ve provided financial assistance to drivers and delivery people diagnosed with COVID-19 or ordered to self-quarantine or self-isolate by a doctor or public health authority.”

5. And due to the complaints and feedback from their work force they have begun, “Focusing our assistance on those of you who are still actively driving and delivering during this crisis.”

And “Are expanding eligibility to include drivers and delivery people who have been told to individually quarantine because they have preexisting conditions that put them at a higher risk of suffering serious illness from COVID-19. Because this will mean more people are eligible than under the old policy, we’ve chosen to establish a maximum per-person payment to make this new policy more sustainable.”

Now the one catch is that, “To be eligible, you must provide written documentation from a licensed doctor or government public health official showing that:

You have an active case of COVID-19; or
You were individually ordered to self-quarantine because you’re suspected to have an active case of COVID-19; or
You were individually ordered to self-quarantine because you have preexisting health conditions that put you at higher risk of serious illness due to COVID-19

With the lack of accessibility to testing, this makes it a bit difficult simply because drivers cannot easily get the required documentation needed to apply for these benefits. I’m sure you have all seen the media coverage of testing availability & know that if you are simply not sick enough to require hospitalization but have a majority of the symptoms, you are advised to stay home and self-quarantine without the paper work.

No paperwork = No benefits at this time.

The Uber website explaining the changes to the sick leave also states that “When you apply, your Uber account will be temporarily put on hold as a safety measure to help limit the spread of COVID-19. Even though your account is on hold, we’ll still need to review your application to determine if you qualify for financial assistance.”

And finally, the explanation of what benefits you actually get states the following:

1. New policy: “look at your average weekly earnings over the 3 months before your application for assistance.”

2. New policy: While we will continue to offer up to 14 days of financial assistance, we will set a maximum payment amount. The maximum amounts differ by city because they are based on typical earnings for drivers and delivery people in each city.

3. New policy: “We will continue our policy of giving you a minimum payment of $50 if you drive or deliver in the U.S. even if you have only done one trip. The minimum payment will differ by country.”

They finish the new policy by stating that they will be setting maximum payouts for each driver that applies which could mean that some drivers will be receiving less than they usually earn while driving.

I will give them a bit of credit since this could end up being a substantial hit to the company itself and because they do state that they will continue to ask for feedback and adjust accordingly.

Now lets take a look into apps that specifically track the spread of COVID-19. When it comes to our behavior and the places we go, it’s safe to say that over the past few years it has become much harder for us to keep this kind of information private. When we drive from our house to a new store, or friends house we use our cell phone to give us turn by turn directions.

When we hear a word we don’t know, we quickly unlock our phones and search on google. Every single thing that we do in our daily lives is then logged as a data point. An almost permanent diary of our thoughts, actions and behavior.

Today, data has basically become a currency. Companies collect what we provide via social media, our searches and sometimes even our conversations (when we use AI personal assistants like Alexa which I’ll cover later on this season.)

So when it comes to our current situation, we are seeing that COVID-19 has introduced the need to collect more real time data. Large companies & even the government can now justify their need to know, where we go, who we meet, what we bought & even what we are worried about.

According to an article on The Verge, “On Friday, Apple and Google announced a system for tracking the spread of the new coronavirus, allowing users to share data through Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) transmissions and approved apps from health organizations. The new system, which is laid out in a series of documents and white papers, would use short-range Bluetooth communications to establish a voluntary contact-tracing network, keeping extensive data on phones that have been in close proximity with each other. Official apps from public health authorities will get access to this data, and users who download them can report if they’ve been diagnosed with COVID-19. The system will also alert people who download them to whether they were in close contact with an infected person.”

Since the app itself would use Bluetooth instead of GPS. Your physical location would not necessarily be logged, instead any nearby phones that are using the app would be logged. If at any point in the near future (I’m guessing a few days) any of the users you were close to notify the app that they do have the virus, then you would also be notified that you were in close proximity to a person that tested positive. Advising that you get tested as well, just in case.

They’ve also stated that the app itself has set up protections that prevent specific users from being easily identified.

Apple/Google

Anyway, while this is going to assist with tracking the spread of the virus, there are some downsides to installing the app. For instance:

1. The app itself does not take into account how long users were in close proximity, whether you were talking to each other, sharing the same card reader while checking out at the grocery store or even whether you were actually in the same room since its simply logging proximity based on the Bluetooth reach. You could be in the same building separated by a wall from the other individual, but the app would not know that.

2. It also doesn’t take into account connectivity, or up to date phones. Meaning if an infected individual is right next to you, but they Bluetooth isn’t enabled until they get back home, it wouldn’t pick up on that either and notify you because it simply wouldn’t have that data.

3. Last of all, developers would need to take into account the possibility of hackers submitting false information (like testing results either positive or negative) depending on what their intentions are. This could lead to an increase in spreading unnecessary fear or it could lead to some serious mental health concerns for cases where individuals are notified of positive contact, as a result of pranksters submitting fake testing results. These developers will need to figure out a way to verify that individuals were tested via reputable and verifiable means.

Quite recently, large warehouses and even smaller businesses or schools have had to shut down because of employees or students calling in sick & stating (falsely) that they may have the virus symptoms. As a precaution & to follow the government guidelines, these businesses were required to shut down & disinfect their facilities meaning an increase in down time and a loss in income for all of their employees. This is something that does happen, so any technology introduced to assist with tracing, would need to account for false reports.

Alright, that is all I have for you this week, if you find information that you’d love to share with me, feel free to message me what you found either by email, DM on socials or leaving a voice message on the creepy tech Anchor page... I think this is something I’ll continue to cover especially as this whole thing unfolds.

As always, if you have a quick moment, head over to the apple podcast app and leave me a review. I’d like to know what you think about what is going on.

You can follow me on IG @Tech_Creepy & on Twitter @TechCreepy & you can find the links I mentioned in this episode on my website Lshompole.com.