Ankle monitors, wrist bands, cell phones: How states might track coronavirus patients

Ankle monitors, wrist bands, cell phones — there are a number of methods to track COVID-19 patients, and states are weighing their uses to enforce quarantine and control spread, news outlets report.

In Louisville, Kentucky, police officers fitted GPS tracking devices to infected patients who violated quarantine, Reuters reported.

“We don’t want to take away people’s freedoms but at the same time we have a pandemic,” Amy Hess, Louisville’s chief of public services, told the outlet.

E-Cell, an Arkansas company offering a tracking app for smartphones, was recently contacted by a state agency looking to duplicate the app for the purpose of enforcing quarantine, according to Reuters.

The Chinese government has relied on a combination smartphone and wristband system to keep tabs on citizens, Forbes reports.

China’s software tracking solution is made possible in part by artificial intelligence, and can determine whether the bracelet wearer is at home, or if they have strayed, the outlet reported.

Legislators in Hawaii have been having serious discussions over similar measures for tourists, according to Honolulu Civil Beat, ranging from GPS monitoring, to the use of facial recognition, and mandatory quarantine in guarded facilities.

“There are serious questions in terms of civil liberties and privacy,” Malia Hill, director of think tank Grassroots Institute of Hawaii, told the outlet, calling the suggestions “positively Orwellian.”

As the country takes steps toward reopening the economy, proponents argue that precautions seen as extreme by some, may be necessary to prevent another outbreak.

“The various ideas being evaluated for tracking visitors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, are right now just that, ideas,” said Krishna Jayaram, spokesman for the Hawaii state attorney general’s office. “Given that we are an island state heavily dependent on tourism, there is focus and forward planning now on how we can get back closer to normal while adequately ensuring that any influx of visitors does not put our residents at risk.”

The American Civil Liberties Union has been dubious about such measures, cautioning that safety gained could mean privacy lost.

“The virus poses grave risks, so we should not write off tools that might help mitigate the problem. But we should be skeptical about calls to embrace Chinese-style tracking as a helpful measure in the current emergency.”

This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 4:32 PM with the headline "Ankle monitors, wrist bands, cell phones: How states might track coronavirus patients."