Inspiration
There is an important need for technological tools to manage the spread of COVID-19, as manual methods run into problems such as faulty memory, delayed communication to potential contacts, and increased strain on health institutions. Contact tracing tools have been proposed and implemented in other countries using digital technologies. However, similar solutions have failed to gain ground in America due to controversy over digital privacy and government surveillance.
The problems that we currently face are numerous. Recent Survey data shows that more than 7/10 Americans are unwilling to download a contact tracing app -- with the majority of respondents citing privacy as the reason. Public Health workers face harassment and threats for conducting contact tracing in local communities. Location tracking is disallowed by the Google/Apple joint app -- but healthcare officials say that location tracking is crucial for successful contact tracing. Furthermore, most contact tracing apps depend on a high percentage of the population using it in order for them to be successful.
We hope to present an application that can prioritize privacy concerns and still provide relevant and important information to users in real-time, while also being useful for healthcare officials. We also believe that our approach can provide a solution that doesn't depend on having a certain percentage of the population use it.
We have selected patient adherence during a pandemic as our track because we believe that our application's primary goal is to influence the public's behavior and encourage them to make the right decisions to stop COVID.
What it does
Our application tracks and stores the important user locations for two weeks locally
Gives regular updates about local coronavirus cases
Sends notifications when necessary
E.g.
---> Possible exposure (A health care official determines a location and timeframe, this information is sent out to all users, and each user application checks to see if their stored locations match)
---> High-risk Area (The user is entering a region where elevated cases can be found)
Why we built it this way
Our application idea will allow it to be successful even without having a high percentage of the population using it. Whereas Bluetooth requires other people to opt into the Bluetooth system, our application doesn't require other people to opt in to be effective.
Furthermore, all location data never leaves your phone and there are no outgoing messages, which leaves no reason for anyone to be concerned about privacy.
While cases are still high across America, there are still great disparities in case concentration between cities and communities that make national-level, state-level, and even county-level numbers almost irrelevant. This is why up-to-date data that is as geographically specific is important for the public to know. By creating an application with automatic updates, we provide an easy way for people to quickly be informed when they do decide to leave the house.
Finally, as cases are declining in many areas, sudden spikes and outbreaks are still seen even in the form of clusters. Our application will allow health care officials to quickly respond to these outbreaks by notifying people as rapidly and accurately as possible. Clusters can arise from restaurants, events, clubs, etc... and it can be difficult to track possible contacts without location history.
How I built it
Android Studio and Google Maps SDK
Challenges I ran into
Mobile Programming was a first for our entire team
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
We've built a somewhat functional application
What's next for Covid Updates
--Creating notification system --Using firebase to send updates regarding clusters --Make the background location storing more efficient and fine-tuned
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