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RhetoricalAnalysis_revised-1-Chen-Wei.docx

In the article, “Apple and Google Have a Trustworthy Pandemic Solution.” (2020) which was written by Alex Webb. The author talks about contact-tracing technology offered by Apple and Google that protects the data of the customer and private from what the government is doing. The tool can handle the coronavirus pandemic by requiring users to provide more information to their smartphones (Webb, 2020). If set effectively, it will be important for the fight against coronavirus. Moreover, it will protect the privacy of the people who use it because it will not share information with anyone apart from the health authorities. The writer tells us why the tool is important according to him and how to use it to against this pandemic. In the article, the author convinces his readers of how the proposed tool will make the contact-tracing process quickly. The writer uses three ways to tell us about the tools, First, explains how the toolkit will work and protect the data of users from anyone. Secondly, he talks about the technological approach in Singapore is using. Last, he says the toolkit will assist health services to develop their own toolkit to fight against the coronavirus. The author talks about the Google and Apple’s contact-tracing toolkit that will be operated on the system of Google and Apple. The public health authorities will have the toolkit. He says the current ways of contact-tracing are analog, takes 14 days, and covers the small people, which is the problem. The author gives an example that it will be a lot of work to use the current contact-tracing process in the U. K with 100,000 confirmed cases. He also says that the United States needs at least 100,000 contact tracers but has only 2,200 now (Webb, 2020). The author says that the toolkit will be ready in May. The app uses Bluetooth connection with each phone, it will anonymous and encrypted identifier keys. The keys change every 15 minutes and are broadcast through Bluetooth to the nearby devices, 10 feet within 10 minutes (Webb, 2020). He says that when the clinic tests are individual positive, it will upload code to the app, which will upload all identifiers to a central server within 14 days. The app will alert the app users who their Bluetooth was on and in close with an infected person. However, according to Webb (2020), the app only flags the exposure and not the details of where or the infected person. The health authorities will not receive information on the infected person’s movements in the past 14 days or know that a user was exposed. In addition to this solution, the author talks about the technological way in Singapore that sends all contact-tracing information collected from the user’s phone to a central server. He says that the government by way to health services manages these central databases. According to Webb (2020), this makes it easier to track users’ movement. Webb shows the European Union as an example of governments who have endorsed both of the centralized approaches by governments and the decentralized approach by the tech giants. Finally, the writer says that Google and Apple technology protects the privacy of people by sharing little data important with the state. Also, he says that the app will act as a toolkit for health services to build their own, and if they misuse the app, then the two tech giants can always remove it from their online stores. Webb concludes the article by saying that the app is not a perfect solution, but its benefits are bigger than the risks to avoid lock down for a year (Webb, 2020). Alex Webb is trying to explain the proposed technology by Google and Apple to his reader. Explaining how the app works and protects the user’s data; a major concern with big techs builds the reader's trust and confidence in the new app. The writer also shows that Google and Apple still maintain control over the app and they can always veto the app from their online store if the health services misuse users’ data. Hopefully, the app will help provide a solution to catch this pandemic, and life can go back to normal.

Reference:

Webb, A. (2020, Apr 19). “Apple and Google Have a Trustworthy Pandemic Solution.” Bloomberg Opinion. Retrieved from: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-20/you-can-trust-apple-and-google-with-covid-19-contact-tracing-data