Take a sneak peak at the NSO platform that dozens of countries are testing to track citizens infected with coronavirus - and that a privacy advocate warned us could lead to 'nefarious' uses
- Companies and countries alike are desperately trying to track the spread of the coronavirus.
- Israeli technology firm NSO Group is piloting a platform with dozens of countries that could allow governments to get very granular views into the outbreak.
- But the software is raising concerns among privacy advocates, one of which says it could be used for "highly nefarious means."
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Governments and companies alike are desperately trying to learn what areas the coronavirus may spread to next and how it's already moving through hard-hit zones.
And different countries are taking varying approaches to that. China, for example, has mandated that its residents download an application that tracks their health status. And in the US, advertisers are supplying the federal government with information to allow it to monitor millions of individuals through their cell phones.
Now, one company is piloting a system in dozens of countries around the world that could allow officials to quickly monitor the growth of outbreaks and track individuals that have the virus, to learn who else may be at risk.
Such insight would give the government (or another client using the platform) the ability to put protective measures in place or potentially test someone who may not be aware they're at risk - ultimately slowing the progression of the virus.
NSO Group, the provider of the system, is an Israeli software firm that is perhaps best known for its Pegasus tool, a software that gives clients the ability to infiltrate cell phones and access information such as location or text messages.
The goal is to stop terrorists and other criminals, but the software has drawn scrutiny after revelations it was used to track journalists and activists. One lawsuit even linked the tool to the death of Jamal Khashoggi.
Criticism aside, NSO's products have been used in times of crisis. It helped Brazilian officials, for example, track 51 missing people who were trapped under a mudslide after the Brumadinho Dam collapsed.
The company is now selling governments on the new platform specific to the coronavirus outbreak. And Business Insider got a first-hand look at how the potentially game-changing system works.
Tracking the virus
To be sure, the technology firm has no access to any of the data used to power the application. It merely provides the software and clients are responsible for inputting information.
Government health care databases, for example, combined with location information via cell phones or mobile applications, can give users a granular view into who has the virus, where they are going or have been, if citizens are violating social distancing guidelines, or where the next outbreaks may occur.
While NSO declined to discuss the details of any of the pilot projects under way, such a system is very possible. Carriers in Italy, Germany, and other countries, for example, are already sharing location data with the governments.
The tool could be a powerful resource in helping to mitigate the deadly virus that has already claimed the lives of thousands and is estimated to lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths overall.
Health experts, for example, say individuals who visit locations like supermarkets are at risk if someone with the virus spent 15 minutes or longer there.
NSO's platform could, theoretically, filter down available data to track the people that were in that establishment at the same time or even hours after (since the virus can live on some surfaces for up to several days). That gives the government or health agency the chance to identify potential cases quickly to mitigate any further spread.
Or say a person infected with the virus routinely traveled to another area of town that currently has relatively few individuals that have tested positive. Using NSO's system, officials can pinpoint where the coronavirus may spread based on that tracking information.
It could also pull up a confirmed patient's close contacts - family members, coworkers, etc. - so health workers could proactively test them.
All those examples highlight how helpful the system can be in battling the outbreak. And the extent to which governments or other customers can use it is dependent on what information is inputted - and how often it is updated.
But privacy advocates are ringing the alarm over just how much data is being compiled and how difficult it could be to turn the dial back to stricter privacy measures once the pandemic subsidies.
"Even if the data is not held by the company, governments are equally able to misuse the data," Sam Woodhams, digital rights lead at research firm Top10VPN, told Business Insider. "This is particularly significant given that, even when aggregated and anonymised, location data could still be used by governments for highly nefarious means."
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