Tracing App Downloads Stall
By David Chen, Tucker Gibbs, Anna Kim, Selim Kim, Erin Sackey and Clark Wu
Student concerns and confusion ensued after the Academy’s recent implementation of the SaferMe contact tracing app.
In an all-school email on Oct. 7, 2020, Director of Information and Technology Scott Heffner instructed students to download SaferMe. The department selected this application for its automated contact tracing system and its protection of users’ medical and location data. As of Oct. 22, the Lamont Health Center has not had to initiate any contact tracing; that being said, the application is logging contacts and is ready to use when needed.
Downloading was required for all on-campus students, approximately 460 of which have downloaded the app in the past two weeks. In contrast, faculty and staff were given the choice to download. Heffner shared that just under a hundred of the total 872 Academy employees have enrolled in the application, though many are working from home. His department plans to incentivize employees to download the app, with details forthcoming.
Students who have installed SaferMe stressed public health benefits that come with the app. Several of them felt an obligation to other students to become part of the contact tracing network.
However, a significant portion of the student body is still untrackable; while some have neglected to download the app, others raised concerns over the app’s functions. Certain students were uncomfortable with the prospect of their location being monitored.
Mike Steere, co-founder of SaferMe, clarified that his company had taken measures by design “to limit the contact data for administrators to a number of occurrences and approximate time and distance, with no location.” Only necessary location data is stored and used in contact tracing.
Steere added that the application follows the European General Data Protection Regulation, one of the most stringent privacy laws in the world. “We also tightly control administration access and gain individual user consent,” Steere said.
Others raised issues with the application’s accuracy. Prep Colin Jung noted that the application displayed his location as the middle of the Atlantic.
Prep Advay Nomula found the application to be cumbersome on the user’s end. “The application drains a lot of battery. It tracked my location 29 times in 3 hours, and I didn’t even keep my window open,” he said.
Steere shared that instances such as Nomula’s are fairly normal: “People should expect the app to use some battery,” he said. “The app does need to perform regular scans to be effective and to help keep the community safe during this period.”
Despite concerns, many students recognize the usefulness of the app. “It’s important for us to be able to tell who’s a close contact and who’s not,” upper Kira Ferden said. “ I just feel like it’s my civic duty to the school.”
Several students shared their worry about the lack of participation in the SaferMe network. “COVID-19 is a very serious issue,” lower Isabella Vesely said. “Something as simple as not clicking ‘download’ should not be the reason why we get an outbreak.”