Big Tech’s False COVID Promises

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The pandemic is getting bleaker by the day. Sadly, with record numbers of Americans sick or dying from COVID-19, tech firms have tried to position their tracking technology as the solution. It’s not.   Earlier this week, I spoke to the New York Times about the risk these technologies pose, not just to our privacy and civil rights, but to public health. Even as a privacy advocate, I would be one of the first people to use these COVID-19 surveillance devices if they worked. Sadly, they won’t.   Take BioButton, the new device that attaches to users’ skin, using unproven A.I. to predict who may have COVID-19. Sadly, this is just one of the invasive devices being sold with lots of marketing hype, but no FDA approval. At a moment when we should be doubling-down on evidence-based public health measures, we see too many Americans buying into Silicon Valley’s sales pitch. BioButton is just one example of the hundreds of vendors rushing to sell their technology to us with the promise it will save lives, but little evidence it works. When we normalize this sort of unvetted public health tracking, we don’t just normalize a surveillance culture, we potentially undermine the public’s trust in public health officials. That’s why, we’ll expand our COVID-19 work in the coming weeks at S.T.O.P., pushing back wherever we see surveillance startups peddling unproven or biased technology.   With thanks, Albert Fox Cahn, Esq. Executive Director Listen To Our Podcast! Join Our Monthly Speaker Series! Share Tweet Forward