Coronavirus: Singapore Rolls Out TraceTogether Token For Contact-Tracing

Singapore is rolling out TraceTogether tokens, portable contact-tracing devices to its residents to help curb the spread of Covid-19. The government started distributing the tokens in mid-September.

Minister-in-Charge of GovTech Singapore Janil Puthucheary, said the token complements a three-month-old phone app to reach the maximum number of residents. With a goal of reaching 100% of the population, Singapore’s tracing program is among the most ambitious in the world. About four months into the pandemic, efforts by many countries to use mobile apps to fight the virus have mostly stalled or have been abandoned amid dismal take-up rates and privacy concerns.

Like the TraceTogether app, the token uses Bluetooth signals to record other nearby contact-tracing devices and functions in a similar way. The island-state is believed to be the first country to roll out a portable device on top of its tracing app to more effectively fight the virus as the economy reopens.

“What we want is to stitch those together and cover 100% of our population,” said Janil, who is also senior minister of state in the ministry of transport as well as communications and information. “We are geographically small and we can deploy at a city level. So it’s conceptually possible to put this in the hands of every Singaporean.”

Singapore has resumed most activities with the government assessing the virus situation in the country to be under control. With more than 57,000 recorded infections, mostly driven by an outbreak among foreign workers living in cramped dormitories, officials have said that a robust testing and tracing regime is needed to open the economy safely.

It’s difficult to predict how many people would end up using the token versus the app as it depends on people’s behavior as well as the performance of the gadget. “We are building this real time,” Janil said. “We have a strong belief it would work well. It’s a simple device.” The design of the token may change as the government progressively rolls out its plan to deliver the token likely through till the end of the year, he added.

The senior minister of state cited the country’s success in distributing masks and sanitizers to every household during the pandemic as examples of deploying a solution at a national level. But like most countries in the world, its contact-tracing program has sparked public concerns about privacy and surveillance.

Janil said the token won’t track users’ location and the data collected on each device will be deleted after 25 days. The adoption will also be voluntary.

“When you make things mandatory, you have to balance the benefit and risks including the social risks,” said Janil, who pointed out that the number of deaths and infections in the community is low. “So the risk doesn’t seem quite significant. But if things change and we need a robust response, this will change.”

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

QUICKTAKE ON SOCIAL:

Follow QuickTake on Twitter: twitter.com/quicktake

Like QuickTake on Facebook: facebook.com/quicktake

Follow QuickTake on Instagram: instagram.com/quicktake

Subscribe to our newsletter

Email us at quicktakenews@gmail.com

QuickTake by Bloomberg is a global news network delivering up-to-the-minute analysis on the biggest news, trends and ideas for a new generation of leaders.