Key to control the spread of an epidemic is rapid identification and quarantine of the infected individuals, identifying people of whom they have had close contact during previous days and decontamination of locations the infected individual has visited. If done manually, this process is labour intensive, susceptible to errors, and fraught with privacy concerns. The availability of smart-phones and similar mobile devices, we can overcome above difficulties and track down infected individuals in a more efficient way. But can the privacy of individuals be preserved and can the abuse of governments be prevented?<\/span><\/p>\n

Nuwan Attygalle is a PhD student in Computer Science in the field of Human-Computer Interactions and a teaching assistant at the University of Primorska. He is also a member of the HICUP Lab at the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n