US States Consider Tech to Enforce Stay-at-Home
2020-05-12
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1How do you make sure that someone sick with the coronavirus stays home?
2As the United States begins reopening its economy, state officials are wondering whether technology being used to enforce house arrest orders could be used on coronavirus carriers.
3High-tech tools have been used in some cases to follow confirmed carriers over the past few weeks.
4But more widespread use has been held back by a larger legal question: Can officials require electronic observation without a court order or evidence of criminal activity?
5This question has been raised in places like Hawaii, notes Ronald Kouchi, president of the Hawaii state senate.
6His state considered the use of high-tech tools to enforce stay-at-home orders given to arriving air travelers.
7One idea was to require confirmed carriers to wear GPS-enabled devices around their arms.
8The other was to require those infected to equip their smartphones with tracking apps -- software programs able to report their movements.
9Kouchi said Hawaiian officials were concerned that many travelers were violating the state's 14-day quarantine order.
10But he said that the plan for using such technology to follow incoming travelers was halted after Hawaii's top law enforcement official raised concerns.
11"America is America," Kouchi told the Reuters news agency, noting individual rights and freedoms in the country.
12Hawaii's COVID-19 Joint Information Center released a statement to the office of the state's attorney general.
13It reads: the "ideas being evaluated for tracking those under mandatory quarantine in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are right now just that, ideas."
14Similar ideas have already been executed in a few other states.
15Seven people who broke quarantine rules in Louisville, Kentucky were court-ordered to wear GPS-tracking devices, notes Amy Hess, the city's chief of public services.
16She told Reuters that while she had little interest in the devices, state law requires the enforcement of stay-at-home orders to protect public health.
17"We don't want to take away people's freedoms but at the same time we have a pandemic," she said.
18Industry officials said they had taken calls from state and local governments about repurposing their high-tech tools for quarantine enforcement.
19They would not identify the possible buyers.
20Kris Keyton works for E-Cell, a company based in Arkansas.
21Keyton told Reuters he had recently spoken with a state agency that wanted to make changes to his detainee-tracking smartphone app for quarantine enforcement.
22He said the changes the agency requested affected the software's appearance, but not what it does.
23The industry has two main ways for following offenders: One is through the traditional ankle bracelet.
24The device is connected to the bottom of a person's leg, so their movements can be observed with GPS technology.
25The other is through a smartphone app.
26It can used either in combination with facial or voice recognition technology or connected through Bluetooth to a device placed around the end of the arm.
27One version of the app-and-wrist band solution is already being used in Hong Kong to enforce quarantines on incoming travelers.
28Poland uses a facial recognition-powered version of the technology that asks users to upload a selfie to prove they are indoors.
29Other governments are weighing similar technology, said Robert Magaletta of Shadowtrack Technologies in Louisiana.
30Magaletta told Reuters he was in talks with countries in Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
31In a call with reporters, Jay Stanley of the American Civil Liberties Union noted that some governments were considering the idea of using smartphones in place of ankle devices.
32"As a technological matter that probably would be effective as long as too much precision is not expected," Stanley said.
33But he warned that efforts to enforce public health measures often create more problems.
34Magaletta also said he expects problems as far as the federal government was concerned.
35He added that he is more worried about observing patients with COVID-19 than he was about enforcing house arrests for criminals.
36"It's uncharted territory," Magaletta said.
37I'm Bryan Lynn.
1How do you make sure that someone sick with the coronavirus stays home? 2As the United States begins reopening its economy, state officials are wondering whether technology being used to enforce house arrest orders could be used on coronavirus carriers. 3High-tech tools have been used in some cases to follow confirmed carriers over the past few weeks. But more widespread use has been held back by a larger legal question: Can officials require electronic observation without a court order or evidence of criminal activity? 4This question has been raised in places like Hawaii, notes Ronald Kouchi, president of the Hawaii state senate. His state considered the use of high-tech tools to enforce stay-at-home orders given to arriving air travelers. One idea was to require confirmed carriers to wear GPS-enabled devices around their arms. The other was to require those infected to equip their smartphones with tracking apps -- software programs able to report their movements. 5Kouchi said Hawaiian officials were concerned that many travelers were violating the state's 14-day quarantine order. But he said that the plan for using such technology to follow incoming travelers was halted after Hawaii's top law enforcement official raised concerns. 6"America is America," Kouchi told the Reuters news agency, noting individual rights and freedoms in the country. 7Hawaii's COVID-19 Joint Information Center released a statement to the office of the state's attorney general. It reads: the "ideas being evaluated for tracking those under mandatory quarantine in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are right now just that, ideas." 8Similar ideas have already been executed in a few other states. 9Seven people who broke quarantine rules in Louisville, Kentucky were court-ordered to wear GPS-tracking devices, notes Amy Hess, the city's chief of public services. She told Reuters that while she had little interest in the devices, state law requires the enforcement of stay-at-home orders to protect public health. 10"We don't want to take away people's freedoms but at the same time we have a pandemic," she said. 11Industry officials said they had taken calls from state and local governments about repurposing their high-tech tools for quarantine enforcement. They would not identify the possible buyers. 12Kris Keyton works for E-Cell, a company based in Arkansas. Keyton told Reuters he had recently spoken with a state agency that wanted to make changes to his detainee-tracking smartphone app for quarantine enforcement. 13He said the changes the agency requested affected the software's appearance, but not what it does. 14"Unexplored territory" 15The industry has two main ways for following offenders: One is through the traditional ankle bracelet. The device is connected to the bottom of a person's leg, so their movements can be observed with GPS technology. 16The other is through a smartphone app. It can used either in combination with facial or voice recognition technology or connected through Bluetooth to a device placed around the end of the arm. 17One version of the app-and-wrist band solution is already being used in Hong Kong to enforce quarantines on incoming travelers. Poland uses a facial recognition-powered version of the technology that asks users to upload a selfie to prove they are indoors. 18Other governments are weighing similar technology, said Robert Magaletta of Shadowtrack Technologies in Louisiana. Magaletta told Reuters he was in talks with countries in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. 19In a call with reporters, Jay Stanley of the American Civil Liberties Union noted that some governments were considering the idea of using smartphones in place of ankle devices. 20"As a technological matter that probably would be effective as long as too much precision is not expected," Stanley said. But he warned that efforts to enforce public health measures often create more problems. 21Magaletta also said he expects problems as far as the federal government was concerned. He added that he is more worried about observing patients with COVID-19 than he was about enforcing house arrests for criminals. 22"It's uncharted territory," Magaletta said. 23I'm Bryan Lynn. 24Raphael Satter reported this story for Reuters news agency. George Grow adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. 25_______________________________________________________________ 26Words in This Story 27GPS - n. short for global position system, mapping based on the reception of signals from satellites in Earth's orbit 28quarantine - n. a period in which people's movements are restricted because they might have been infected with disease 29evaluate - v. to study or consider 30pandemic - n. a disease spreading over a wide area and affecting large numbers of people 31uncharted - v. unexplored or unknown 32We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.