Geofencing Amidst A Pandemic

“The potential benefits of artificial intelligence are huge, so are the dangers.” Dave Waters  

“We have had numerous lessons from this pandemic. The lessons are ongoing. We have been forced to think outside the box as a new world order has been ushered in. The flexi work week, once scoffed at has become an attractive option for many employers. Schools have changed gears to virtual teaching and learning; meetings and church are now done via different online platforms. A number of Jamaicans have found themselves in various situations for which they did not plan. Many Jamaicans travel yearly to work on cruise ships as well as in search of overseas employment. As a result of the closure of our ports of entry many Jamaicans have found themselves requiring repatriation. The government has had to develop a set of protocols to facilitate the controlled re-entry of Jamaicans overseas. To date the largest group of Jamaicans to be repatriated arrived home on Tuesday, May 19 on the cruise ship Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas. Over 1,000 Jamaicans arrived at the Falmouth Pier in Trelawny. The Jamaicans will disembark in batches of 200 every 48 to 72 hours and will be tested for COVID-19 and transported to the Bahia Principe hotel in St Ann to await their results. At a press conference on Monday, May 18, Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced that ship workers who test positive for the novel coronavirus will go into State quarantine for 14 days, while those who test negative will be allowed to quarantine at home for the same period.  Persons in home quarantine will have their location tracked by geo-fencing technology and must do video check-ins multiple times a day.

What is Geo-Fencing?

According to Techopedia, #geofencing is a technology that defines a virtual boundary around a real-world geographical area. In doing so, a radius of interest is established that can trigger an action in a geo-enabled phone or other portable electronic device. Geofencing allows automatic alerts to be generated based on the defined coordinates of a geographic area. An example might be an email or text message that is automatically triggered and sent to a user's cell phone when that user's child arrives home from school. In this example, the geofence would be a geographic virtual boundary surrounding the house. When the child's cell phone enters this area, an email is automatically sent to the child's parent by a geofence-enabled app on the phone. Geofencing is rooted in artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is about replacing human decision making with more sophisticated technologies.  Artificial intelligence or #AI is the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. The term may also be applied to any machine that exhibits traits associated with a human mind such as learning and problem-solving. The ideal characteristic of artificial intelligence is its ability to rationalize and take actions that have the best chance of achieving a specific goal. Jamaicans returning will be required to be geo-fenced in order to ensure that they are adhering to the rules of quarantine.  The Prime Minister was asked how long will the data be kept and who will have access to this information given concerns about the right to privacy. The Prime Minister responded, "so the protocol around it is that the person's data would not be kept. The phone will be pinged, that means a signal will be sent to the phone, and then the signal will return the geolocation. So there's no tracking on a consistent or continuous basis of the person's telephone, but at regular intervals, that phone will be pinged. So there's not much information that will be stored." These are important questions since everyone has a right to privacy. What plans are in place for those Jamaicans who purposely leave their smartphones at home and break the quarantine guidelines? The word pandemic is both a noun and a verb as many of us know how to ‘pandemic’ and discriminate against those individuals who have the coronavirus.  
Global Trend
At Seoul's Incheon International Airport, the government has set up walk-through facilities that test anyone with symptoms for COVID-19, and follow up to ensure those without symptoms are tested within three days.  New arrivals also have to download a government smartphone app that tracks their location and asks them to report any symptoms, according to Reuters. Even those patients without symptoms are forced to self-quarantine for two weeks, after which the app displays a message saying they're allowed to delete the app from their phone. The Korean government announced plans to roll out location-tracking bracelets for people who break quarantine after reports of people tricking the government-mandated app by leaving their smartphones at home.  Other countries using geofencing technology include Israel, Singapore, Bahrain, Iran, Taiwan, Italy, Spain, Germany, India and China. It should be noted that Europe has stricter laws regarding data protection than most other places. The fact is we all have to learn to live with #COVID-19. The technology is readily available to track citizens. Our regular smartphones already have tracking devices installed. Those of us who are not honest must be prepared for the State to take all the necessary precautions within the confines of the Jamaican Constitution to keep us safe. Jamaica currently has 529 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 9 deaths. The total number of recoveries stand at 171.   

In the words of Danah Boyd,  there will be abuses of power that involve artificial intelligence, just as there will be advances in sciences and humanitarian efforts that also involve AI. Unfortunately, there are massive trend lines that are likely to create massive instability.

Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues.

waykam@yahoo.com

@WayneCamo

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#dataprotection #Jamaica #coronavirus #geofencing