Slowing the Spread of Infectious Diseases Using Crowdsourced Data.

We are a group of volunteers — researchers, software engineers, privacy and public health experts — who have developed a privacy-preserving mobile app intervention to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Our mobile app performs automatic decentralized contact tracing using bluetooth proximity networks. Our volunteers care strongly about preserving human life and human rights. All data we could collect is voluntary and fully anonymized. All code is transparent. It is open source [1] and could be easily reviewed, reproduced and used anywhere on the planet. The app could be installed by anyone with a bluetooth-capable smartphone, alerting them to their risk of having been in contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19, and helping them to protect themselves and their friends, families, and other contacts altruistically. We believe scalable measures like an app are especially helpful in communities where contact tracing resources are too limited to match the scope of the pandemic. We’re building this app to provide components and tools that public health agencies can use to supplement their pre-existing efforts to fight COVID-19, assisted by voluntary public action.