The Technology 202: Tech to contain coronavirus on college campuses sparks fresh privacy concerns

The Technology 202: Tech to contain coronavirus on college campuses sparks fresh privacy concerns

The University of California, Irvine is using a WiFi-based system its own researchers developed to monitor how many people are congregating in certain buildings on campus. Researchers developing the system tell me data it collects could be used to aid contact tracers seeking to reconstruct any infected person’s moves on campus. The school is taking a gradual approach to rolling out the system, initially beginning with research labs, and taking steps to ensure student privacy, said Pramod Khargonekar, UCI’s vice chancellor for research.