Safe contact tracing for COVID-19: A method without privacy breach using functional encryption techniques based-on...

Area of Science:

• Public Health Informatics
• Epidemiology
• Data Privacy

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitates effective contact tracing for epidemic control.
• Public disclosure of infected patient trajectories, while aiding control, raises significant privacy concerns.
• Fear of privacy breaches deters individuals from participating in essential infection testing and tracing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel privacy-preserving contact tracing method.
• To develop a system for visualizing the contact tracing workflow.
• To enhance quarantine systems by balancing public health needs with individual privacy rights.

Main Methods:

• Development of a privacy-preserving contact tracing algorithm.
• Utilizing spatio-temporal trajectory data for tracing.
• Creation of a visualization system for the contact tracing process.

Main Results:

• A functional privacy-preserving contact tracing method has been proposed.
• A system for visualizing the contact tracing workflow has been developed.
• The proposed method offers a practical solution for quarantine systems.

Conclusions:

• The proposed method effectively addresses privacy breaches associated with contact tracing.
• This approach can encourage greater public participation in infection testing and tracing.
• The system provides a viable tool for managing public health crises while respecting privacy.