Checking Quarantine Adherence

Overview

• SAFE was originally designed for in-classroom attendance and quizzes by students.
• We have proposed the re-purposing of this, for checking quarantine adherence, as given in the proposal here: link
• This documents describes the goal behind use of SAFE (Smart, Authenticated Fast Exams) for the purpose of checking quarantine adherence, and the associated privacy policies.

What information we collect or store and when?

• Please see SAFE’s privacy policy here: privacy-policy.
• Specifically, when, and only when a user marks attendance on SAFE, we collect and store the selfie (if configured), WiFi AP scan list, GPS location.

How we use the above information?

• The authority using SAFE should realize that the information collected and stored at the server is personal and sensitive.
• The data should be accessed ONLY by authorized personnel, and should not be made public through any means.
• The above information is to be used only for the purpose of checking quarantine adherence.
• The information should be deleted once the disease containment period is over.

Justification for the use of SAFE in this manner: risks vs benefits

• We realize that technology usage is sensitive, and the collection of personal information such as selfie/location is especially so.
• At the same time, we believe that technology use for quarantine enforcement can benefit.
• In the absence of technology, crude methods such as: stamping on a person’s hand, and/or posting notices outside a person’s door/gate have been used.
• This is a cruder form of privacy violation, and is much more dangerous, especially in a society like India, where there can be self-declared vigilantes taking law into their own hand.
• Also, SAFE is better than other technical systems which collect user information in the background, potentially without the user’s explicit knowledge. In this sense, in SAFE the taking of selfie is an explicit moment where the user shares limited information with the authority, to prove/verify his/her quarantine adherence.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

• Any changes to this privacy policy will be posted at this same location, and instructors/students will be notified about the same in a transparent manner.