Ben AdidaMay 13, 2023

I want to give a shout out to exposure notifications, the API Apple and Google created at the beginning of the pandemic. Well scoped. In close collaboration with domain experts. Privacy protecting. Measurably helped, maybe not as much as hoped, but still. And now being responsibly shut down, as promised.

We should praise folks when tech is done right. I want to see more of this responsible deployment of tech.

Show threadKate Nyhan is changing serversMay 13, 2023
@ben Responsibly shut down as promised? Ok, if we have achieved a threshold of community transmission under which an *opt-in* exposure notification system is somehow *irresponsible,* is there also a threshold that will trigger its reopening?
I mean, I would be thrilled if there is no winter wave, and if there is no new variant with even worse outcomes or an even worse attack rate - but would you put money on it?
Show threadKate Nyhan is changing serversMay 13, 2023
@ben And, if it was scoped so well, what's the rationale for the six feet-fifteen minutes criteria? Sure, I can see how that was a reasonable approach in March 2020. But that was when we thought SARS-CoV-2 spread via ballistic droplets. Time marches on and now we know that is a mischaracterisation of transmission dynamics.
Show threadKate Nyhan is changing serversMay 13, 2023
@ben
"Close collaboration with domain experts" - I guess it all comes down to which experts
Morawska et al. COVID-19 and Airborne Transmission: Science Rejected, Lives Lost. Can Society Do Better? Clin Infect Dis. 2023 Feb 10:ciad068. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciad068. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36763042. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciad068
COVID-19 and Airborne Transmission: Science Rejected, Lives Lost. Can Society Do Better?

In April 2020, 36 experts alerted the WHO about the importance of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2. WHO dismissed this advice until it was published in an in

OUP Academic
Show threadBen AdidaMay 13, 2023

@kdnyhan these are all valid criticisms. Here's how I see it:

- we're not testing systematically anymore. So even though I agree the pandemic isn't over, our change in how we approach it makes this tool less useful. So sunset is the right and responsible move.

- agree that criteria for "contact" could have evolved. Still, the system was useful as is. I wonder if it might have thrown too many false positives if they changed it. Only so much Bluetooth can do here.

Show threadJeri Dansky

@ben Logically, I totally see your point re: the lack of systematic testing and its impact on the notifications.

But emotionally, I just feel abandoned by my government (or even more abandoned than I felt before). I almost cried when the discontinuation notice popped up on my phone.

And yes, I still give a bunch of credit to Apple and Google for what they did.

May 14, 2023 at 12:34amWeb
Show threadBen AdidaMay 14, 2023
@jeridansky i get it. The way we're living with COVID is not at all how i expected things to go, and it's taught me a lot, good and bad, about humanity.