How it works: Contact Tracing

Billy Rogers

In a world where contact tracing is slowly becoming utilized in everyday life, have you ever wondered “how exactly does it work?”

First, a user must pick up a phone call from a contact tracing server.

Phone
Rings

Contact Tracer + 1 (555) xxx-xxxx

Rings

A wireless signal is then sent to its cloud database.

While contact tracing may feel cold and impersonal to some, it’s meant to ensure ultimate privacy & data security.

Instead of actual phone numbers or names, the encrypted data of your phone is logged into the contact tracing system.

Intimate personal details are kept anonymous and logged only as a series of numbers and letters.

Rings

The code scrapes inventory of who you have been in contact with over the last 30 days.

Rings

It makes connections based on proximity to these other cellular devices and networks and starts to create a visual map of its own.

Only if you’ve tested positive and activated your contact tracing network will other users be notified.

Rings
Phone

Contract Tracer Possible Contact

Other stories

The science of AR maps

02

01

How to build your own quantum computer