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Digital Planet: Could fitness trackers track COVID-19?

Factual: Science & Nature

Could fitness trackers track COVID-19?

21/04/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - Digital Planet, Could fitness trackers track COVID-19?

Could data from wearable fitness trackers track COVID-19?

Could fitness trackers track COVID-19?  Also Cybercrime and the threat from the pandemic and how safe are sex robots?

Could your smart fitness device detect if you were coming down with respiratory symptoms? A project collecting data from smart wearable devices to see if they can plot outbreaks of disease symptoms by reporting data in real time and giving it a geographical tag has been launched.  This would allow local authorities to mount responses quickly before any virus spreads further. The study is called DETECT and one of those involved is Dr. Jennifer Radin an epidemiologist at Scripps Research Translational Institute in San Diego California and she joins us on the programme.

COVID-19 Cybercrime
Why are we more susceptible to cybercrime during lockdown?  A new report just published by The Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime entitled “Cybercrime – Threats during the COVID-19 pandemic” is trying to answer that question.  From attacks on hospitals, to a massive rise in the registration of websites with coronavirus, pandemic and COVID-19 in their addresses, the report looks at how our behaviour, our tech and the criminals, have changed in the last few months making cybercrime an even greater threat than before.

How safe are sex robots?
Sex robots are increasing in popularity. But as more people around the world bring these increasingly sophisticated androids into their homes, what new risks do they bring with them? As countries across the globe enforce strict lockdowns, many of us have felt the power of technology to counter loneliness and isolation, but how close should we let our tech get? And when technology is so taboo, do important discussions about safety ever see the light of day? Luckily, roboticists and regulators are beginning to grapple with some of these issues. Geoff Marsh has been finding out more…




(Image: Smartwatch. Credit: iStock / Getty Images Plus) 

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

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