{"id":4749,"date":"2020-04-28T08:10:45","date_gmt":"2020-04-28T12:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/?p=4749"},"modified":"2020-04-28T08:10:45","modified_gmt":"2020-04-28T12:10:45","slug":"trust-insights-week-17-should-we-trust-contact-tracing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/?p=4749","title":{"rendered":"Trust Insights Week #17: Should We Trust Contact Tracing?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=4561\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4561\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4561 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/TAA_TrustAlliance_TrustInsights-Logo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"146\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/TAA_TrustAlliance_TrustInsights-Logo.jpg 675w, https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/TAA_TrustAlliance_TrustInsights-Logo-293x300.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 146px) 100vw, 146px\" \/><\/a>This week&#8217;s Trust Insights welcomes our Trust Council members who joined us in addressing the following question:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Is the Apple\/Google Contact Tracing Plan Worthy of our Trust? <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>by Barbara Brooks Kimmel, Founder Trust Across America-Trust Around the World<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">During these trying times, Apple and Google claim to have temporarily placed their corporate competitiveness on hold to begin collaborating on at least one very large data project. It\u2019s called contact tracing, \u201cthe process of tracking down the people with whom infected patients have interacted, and making sure they get tested or go into quarantine\u2019 according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/04\/14\/834460127\/apple-google-team-up-to-develop-cellphone-data-contact-tracing\"><span class=\"s2\">this recent NPR article<\/span><\/a>. The Apple\/Google \u201calliance\u201d will expand the reach of existing contract tracing capabilities.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>This initiative has raised many questions and multiple collective eyebrows, not only for our trust and ethics subject matter expert community, but also for the general public, and for good reasons. For example:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s3\">Why should the public now trust the tech giants with their data when these companies have not proven themselves trustworthy in the past? <\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s3\">Should all trust concerns be set aside in the interest of global health?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Who better to ask than Trust Across America\u2019s<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span><a href=\"mailto:https%253A\/\/trustacrossamerica.com\/trust-council.shtml\"><span class=\"s2\">Trust Council<\/span><\/a>? Our council is comprised of senior members of our <a href=\"https:\/\/trustacrossamerica.com\/cgi-bin\/alliance.cgi\">Trust Alliance<\/a> who are some of the world\u2019s leading trust subject matter experts. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>What we already know about trusting the tech giants<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alexanderassoc.com\/\">Bart Alexander<\/a> shared a quick retrospective on the state of tech\u2019s visibility into our private lives:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Providers such as Apple and Google already have comprehensive information about our location.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Even with location services (GPS) off, they have visibility into the relative strength of every wifi signal and cell signal. From years of collection including through<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Google\u2019s fleet of Street View cars, they can correlate that triangulated location with GPS.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>With other data bases, they can determine if we are at home, at a shop or even a medical facility.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Google recently reached a $13 million settlement on the use of Street View cars for MAC address collection that goes back a decade.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>This kind of information is used for target marketing to the public.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>To now add a permission marketing app to supplement with Bluetooth technology is a rather minor addition to the existing privacy concerns, and at least has a public health purpose.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/successthroughtrust.com\/\">Natalie Doyle Oldfield<\/a> who spent twenty years working in IT before turning her attention to organizational trust, added a bit more historical perspective:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>As history has shown, wars vastly expand governments\u2019 powers to regulate, to collect data and introduce new measures.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>For example, income tax was introduced as a war time measures act in the interest of public welfare.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>At the same time, strict policies to protect personal income data were enacted. Census taking provides another historical example of data collection. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Banks, health care professionals, lawyers, accountants and other professionals must follow established confidentiality rules and codes of ethics to keep our personal data secure and private. For the most part, the regulatory bodies have put safeguards in place to ensure these professions do not abuse our privacy.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>And if they<\/i> <i>do, there are repercussions. Medical professionals can lose their licenses to practice and lawyers can be disbarred.\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>The question is will \u201cBig Tech\u201d demonstrate that they too not only can but WILL voluntarily meet the highest ethical standards? Can they provide sound answers to the following questions: Specifically, what data will be collected and who will have access to it? <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Are we committing to practicing privacy and security by design? What about HIPAA certification? Will we do what\u2019s ethical and in the public\u2019s best privacy interests,<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>or only what\u2019s regulated, understanding that tech regulations are lagging far behind other industries like finance and health care.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Personal Trust vs. Societal Health<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/trustedadvisor.com\/consultants\/charles-h-green\">Charlie Green\u2019s<\/a> response is one of \u201cRoll the dice trust.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Personal trust inevitably comes in conflict with tech privacy and security concerns. After all, the height of privacy and security tech models are called \u201czero trust\u201d for a reason. Because it has nothing to do with personal trust.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>I think the trust issue in this case is that we need to trust Apple and Google and each other, adding some clear transparency bumpers, to do something potentially tremendously positive in the face of a pandemic.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/leadingwithtrust.com\/author\/rconley\/\">Randy Conley<\/a> sits in the camp of \u201ccautious optimism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>I think technology can play a tremendously helpful role in public health or disaster management situations like this, AND, we have to be cognizant of the personal privacy issues involved. I believe South Korea has leveraged personal technology to a large degree in their successful management of the COVID-19 virus. The reality is that we live with an illusion of privacy. Despite our safeguards, we don\u2019t have as much privacy as we think we do. If nefarious actors in Big Tech or any skilled hacker wants information on us, they can get it.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/leadingincontext.com\/author\/lindafisherthornton\/\">Linda Fisher Thornton<\/a> considers the trade offs: <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>&#8220;The challenge we face is balancing the benefits of surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic, which potentially includes saving lives, with the costs in terms of the loss of privacy and autonomy. The surveillance approach puts the safety of the masses ahead of the privacy and autonomy of individuals\u00a0 For surveillance to be effective, a strong majority will need to allow access to their location and health status data. To convince them to do that, tech companies will need to demonstrate trustworthy intentions, a clear plan, full disclosure, and implementation that includes privacy protections.&#8221;<\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/leadergrow.com\/\">Bob Whipple<\/a> adds <i>that with the tech solutions, just remember that anything that is made by people can be hacked by other people.\u00a0 So the potential of abuse in electronic tracing is immense.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Pandemics Aside, Trust is ALWAYS a Function of Leadership<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/triplecrownleadership.com\/\">Bob Vanourek<\/a>, a former CEO of several large pubic companies reminds us that:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Good leaders go first in extending trust and scale up or down afterwards depending on the behavior of the other.<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><i>\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>This pandemic is a huge Black Swan (or perhaps a \u201cknown-unknown\u201d) event that will change much of our world forever. Some would argue that using such tech will help save lives and is, therefore, worthwhile. Others will argue the privacy invasion issues are scary, and we can\u2019t take a step down this potentially slippery slope.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Like many ethical issues, there are legitimate pros and cons on both sides of the argument. Should the government pass a law outlawing this technology and behavior? I think not. Should we blindly accept the tech companies to handle this without close scrutiny? I think not.<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><i>\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Stephen M.R. Covey\u2019s \u201csmart trust\u201d applies here alongside Jim Kouzes\u2019 \u201cgo first\u201d dictum. Let\u2019s extend Google and Apple smart trust and closely monitor what they are doing, adjusting accordingly.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Wrapping up<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Getting back to Bart Alexander:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>In 1988, Shoshana Zuboff wrote \u201cIn the Age of the Smart Machine\u201d that increasing automation can be used to empower or control us at work and beyond.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Even in that pre-internet era, the key moral issue of surveillance had emerged: for whom and for what purpose are we giving up our privacy? <\/i><\/span><i> <\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>I\u2019ve argued (in the work I did for the U of Denver Institute for Enterprise Ethics) that these moral issues should not and cannot be resolved by engineers.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>We need sociologists and ethicist to struggle with what otherwise are just technical problems to be overcome.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>I would add that public health officials will always err on the side of protection versus personal freedoms, embodied in the precautionary principle.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>They may often be right, but they and the software engineers\u2019 solutions should not be without scrutiny.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Finally, as the Founder of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\">Trust Across America- Trust Around the World<\/a>, I\u2019ll add my perspective. I do not believe that these two tech giants will receive adequate voluntary public buy-in to reach the scale they had hoped for. They simply haven\u2019t earned the public trust required of such a large initiative. That being said, something tells me that Apple and Google already have all the technology and data they need to go forward, with or without permission, while other competing interests attempt to play catch up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">One member of our Trust Council shared this quote from the often controversial Winston Churchill:<i> \u201cIn wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Trust Across America-Trust Around the World, along with members of its Trust Alliance, offers both online and in-person <a href=\"https:\/\/trustacrossamerica.com\/workshops.shtml\">workshops<\/a> to help leaders, teams and organizations build their trust competency. These are <a href=\"https:\/\/trustacrossamerica.com\/documents\/trust-diagnostics\/aim-uses.pdf\">some samples<\/a> of recent engagements.<\/p>\n<p>Catch up on our 2020 Trust Insights series <a href=\"https:\/\/trustacrossamerica.com\/trust-insights.shtml\">at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Barbara Brooks Kimmel<\/b>\u00a0is an award-winning communications executive and the CEO and Cofounder of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/trustacrossamerica.com\/index.shtml\"><span class=\"s1\">Trust Across America-Trust Around the World<\/span><\/a>\u00a0whose mission is to help organizations build trust. Barbara has consulted with many Fortune 500 CEOs and their firms, and also runs the world\u2019s largest global\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/trustacrossamerica.com\/cgi-bin\/alliance.cgi\"><span class=\"s1\">Trust Alliance .\u00a0<\/span><\/a>She is\u00a0 the editor of the award-winning\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/trustacrossamerica.com\/order.shtml\"><span class=\"s1\">TRUST INC.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0book series and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/trustacrossamerica.com\/magazine.shtml\">TRUST! Magazine<\/a>.\u00a0 Barbara holds a BA in International Affairs and an MBA.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=1233\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1233\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1233 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/TrustInccover313-e1402235843856.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"131\" height=\"197\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2020, Next Decade, Inc.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-best-social-bookmark\"><ul class=\"socials\"><li class=\"oknotizie\"><a href=\"http:\/\/oknotizie.virgilio.it\/post.html.php?url=https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/?p=4749&title=Trust Insights Week #17: Should We Trust Contact Tracing?\" title=\"Share this on oknotizie\"> <\/a><\/li><li class=\"twitter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/home?status=Trust Insights Week #17: Should We Trust Contact Tracing? &raquo; https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/?p=4749\" title=\"Share this on twitter\"> <\/a><\/li><li class=\"delicious\"><a href=\"http:\/\/del.icio.us\/post?url=https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/?p=4749&title=Trust Insights Week #17: Should We Trust Contact Tracing?\" title=\"Share this on del.icio.us\"> <\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Apple and Google may already have all the technology and data they need to go forward, with or without permission, while other competing interests attempt to play catch up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[45,404,415,409,454],"tags":[122,136,116,5,121,7],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4749"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4749"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4754,"href":"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4749\/revisions\/4754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trustacrossamerica.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}