Google And Apple's Decentralized COVID-19 Contact Tracing System Could Be Used For Voter Suppression

Google and Apple's joint decentralized, privacy-protecting COVID-19 exposure alert system could be used to interfere with elections, a new report authored by researchers in the blockchain industry argues.

The system designed by two of the world's largest tech giants allows software developers to build apps to inform users when they have been in contact with an infected individual without notifying who that individual was. The data transmission occurs only through the devices with no centralized authority. The thinking is that the notification gives people the opportunity to get tested and quarantine as soon as possible.

A report published on Thursday, August 27 argues that an authentication code allowing one phone to tell another that its owner is infected can be easily obtained and then copied and broadcast throughout the network to send out many false exposure alerts. Without a centralized authority, the codes can be used multiple times with no verification.

Report authors argue that this is problematic for many reasons, but focused on the fact that it could discourage large swaths of voters from going to polling places out of fear of infecting others. 

By Emily Mason

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