Abstract: |
Approaches presented herein enable identifying an individual exposed to an illness carried by another individual by securely tracking interactions between individuals and using this information during a public health emergency to alert a public health authority and/or individuals who might be at risk of exposure to an illness. Specifically, a first mobile device of a user detects a second mobile device of another individual via low-energy radio frequency communication. The first device records contact data, including an identification of the second device, a distance between the devices, and a duration that the devices are within a specified distance from one another, and then encrypts and stores this contact data. In response to a public health emergency, the first device conducts an exposure analysis of the stored set of data using distance and duration thresholds to determine if the user came into contact with an individual carrying an illness. |
Inventor: |
Boss, Gregory J. (Saginaw, MI, US); Finn, Peter G. (Markham, CA); Hamilton, II, Rick A. (Charlottesville, VA, US); Kozloski, James R. (New Fairfield, CT, US) |
Applicant: |
International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, NY, US) |
Face Assignee: |
N/A |
Filed: |
2016-08-16 |
Issued: |
2018-02-22 |
Claims: |
20 |
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US20180052970
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1. A method for identifying an individual exposed to an illness carried by another individual, the method comprising:
(4)
(4)
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9. A computer system for identifying an individual exposed to an illness carried by another individual, the computer system comprising:
(3)
(3)
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16. A computer program product for identifying an individual exposed to an illness carried by another individual, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage device, and program instructions stored on the computer readable storage device, to:
(2)
(4)
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