Blockchain tech could help us know who is safe, who is not, in a COVID-impacted workforce

The COVID-19 epidemic has shown we face a massive undertaking in managing illness.

What we also have seen is that it involves an enormous amount of data management, too. How many tests? How many falling ill? Why are there higher rates in minority communities? How many ventilators, how many beds? How much in stimulus funds? Are the numbers dropping, and where are we on that curve? Who among us is safe and able to rejoin the workforce?

On that last issue — establishing safe health status for workers that could allow them back into the world — we are hearing more and more about a policy in China that does a spectacular job of monitoring whether individuals come into contact with known cases of COVID-19 — so spectacular that it is probably unthinkable for us in the U.S., unless we adopt a way to do it without Big Brother doing the spying.

First, how China is handling it

If you hope to be allowed into public spaces such as restaurants and hotels, you must have on your mobile device a particular app created for this need. First your temperature is taken. Then you must fire up the app to display a personal QR code, which is constantly updated to reflect your proximity to known cases of the virus. Green, yellow or red displays determine who gets in and who stays out. Interestingly, unless you’ve had a test yourself, the app has no idea whether or not YOU are sick or have recovered. Just whether or not you’ve been near someone who was, and how closely you were in contact with each other. The data links to your cell phone and passport information.

Other countries such as Singapore, South Korea, Israel, and Iran have employed varying examples of similar technology, all allegedly aimed at tracing and tracking the spread. While some claim to be anonymous, others are outright delivering the task of monitoring the data to state security forces. Critics fear users have trusted so much information about their personal movement to the app makers and the governments that the information could be used for repressive purposes, and that turning off the data sharing when the virus threat ends might be impossible.

Health monitoring in a blockchain world

But that central concern — that the information is collected and handled by governments and other authorities — disappears when we think of solving the problem in a decentralized universe, through blockchain technology.

If we really are serious about putting our nation back to work, we need instant and verifiable information not just on the status of who we’ve been near, but on workers’ personal health. And if we are to remain true to principles of our American democracy, we need an assurance of anonymity, not just promises from an authority we may or may not trust.

To work properly, we’d need proper testing of everyone participating to know who is safe from the disease. Those tests would need to link to our devices through a blockchain Application Programming Interface (API) that would encrypt the data to keep health records private, but release enough information to tell us “Worker X579Q is passed.” Facial ID could establish I am, in fact, Worker X579Q, and that I am safe to be at work. And no one has to know that my name is attached to some health record or what I’ve been doing in my spare time.

Such a system could accomplish three things: 1) bring peace of mind to anyone coming in contact with me, 2) put me back on the job, and 3) keep my personal info personal.

Of course, such a system would require interoperability among a variety of different blockchains — including health data and employment data.

Stay tuned. We may be closer than you think. (But not too close! Not yet! Stay away!)

Visit Aeryus at: https://aeryus.com
Follow us on all our social media channels to keep up to date on all
things Aeryus!

Join our community on Telegram: https://t.me/Aeryus1
Telegram news channel. https://t.me/aeryusone
Looking for token info? https://aeryus.com/token
Follow us on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aeryus_one
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AeryusOne
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aeryus/
Aeryus is currently listed on IDEX: https://idex.market/eth/aer