Proximity Tracing

[GoodTaste]

Does "Proximity Tracing" mean "Contact Tracing"? Proximity = closeness?

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Decentralized Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing
This repository contains a proposal for a secure and decentralized privacy-preserving proximity tracing system. Its goal is to simplify and accelerate the process of identifying people who have been in contact with an infected person, thus providing a technological foundation to help slow the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The system aims to minimise privacy and security risks for individuals and communities and guarantee the highest level of data protection.

Source: GitHub
https://github.com/DP-3T/documents

 

[emsr2d2]

It seems to be used as an alternative name there. I suppose it works just as well. The software seems to be activated when two people come into close proximity of each other.

 

[GoodTaste]

Would "Closeness Tracing" sound awkward?

Closeness: being close in position or time
Proximity: the state of being near in space or time

They seem to be almost the same to me. I can't tell the nuance between.

 

[GoesStation]

They seem to be almost the same to me. I can't tell the nuance in meaning between them.

The meaning would be similar, but the more formal word "proximity" fits the context better.

Proximity tracing is the best that this technology can provide. It can't tell whether two people were physically in contact. This is really what the situation calls for, though. You don't have to touch someone to contract the disease. "Contact tracing" is a better term for general use, though, because "contact" sounds less technical and is part of most people's vocabulary.

 

[Tdol]

I prefer proximity- I may have stood near someone in a queue for a bus, which is close, but I wouldn't think of that as contact.

 

[emsr2d2]

I prefer proximity- I may have stood near someone in a queue for a bus, which is close, but I wouldn't think of that as contact.

I agree but the procedures and apps that are being developed and tested with regard to Covid all seem to be described as "contact tracing".

 

[GoesStation]

I agree but the procedures and apps that are being developed and tested with regard to Covid all seem to be described as "contact tracing".

I have the feeling that contact tracing is the term used in epidemiology, and that it does not imply physical contact in that context. In fact, I think I've seen "contact" defined as "being less than six feet from an infected person for at least ten minutes".

I like the term for its plainness, but it can certainly be misleading.

 

[jutfrank]

Yes, 'contact' doesn't mean that people literally touch each other. I'm pretty sure it just means that they're close enough for airborne transmission. How close that is exactly I assume must be well defined.

 

[Tdol]

And this app uses proximity to express that. I see nothing wrong with that, especially as this app aims to protect privacy.