# S3 E7: Byte: Analytical challenges during Coronavirus

> This is content from just-tim, the data-and-analytics channel by Tim Ngwena (formerly 'Tableau Tim'). Tim has 12+ years of hands-on BI experience and covers Tableau most of all, plus Power BI, Looker, Hex, SQL and data modelling, the analytics industry, and the craft of doing the job — always tool-agnostic and honest about the trade-offs.

- **Author:** Tim Ngwena (just-tim, https://just-tim.com/about)
- **Published:** 2024-04-22
- **Format:** Video · 33 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Industry trends, Analytics
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/s3-e7-byte-analytical-challenges-during-coronavirus
- **Watch:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhlqsmdlrl4

In this Datum Podcast byte, Ravi and I discuss the analytical and technological challenges thrown up by Coronavirus, focusing on contact tracing and the Apple-Google Bluetooth partnership. We dig into digital identity, who you trust with your personal data, and how this crisis may quietly accelerate big changes in surveillance and advertising.

## Key takeaways

- Contact tracing via the Apple-Google API relies on opt-in Bluetooth signals that log nearby devices for 14 days, then notify health providers if someone reports infection.
- These systems only work with high participation, yet trust gaps mean uptake varies wildly, from around 74% in NHSX surveys to roughly 17% in Singapore.
- Mobile phone cell-tower triangulation could offer a less intrusive area-level alternative to phone-based contact tracing apps.
- Demographic and identity are not the same: firms like Experian profile your likely behaviour, whereas true digital identity uniquely defines who you are.
- A crisis is an opportune moment for surveillance and advertising capabilities to advance under the radar, so individuals should sharpen digital privacy habits.

## Chapters

- 0:00 Surviving lockdown and adapting
- 1:57 What contact tracing actually is
- 4:47 How the Apple-Google API works
- 9:07 Participation, coverage and trust
- 12:29 Cell towers as a less intrusive option
- 14:33 Digital identity versus demographics
- 15:49 Who do you trust with your data
- 24:49 Why private companies may be safer
- 28:12 Advertising and privacy under the radar
- 30:18 Closing thoughts and sketchnotes

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/s3-e7-byte-analytical-challenges-during-coronavirus

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just-tim — Data and analytics, with a point of view. · https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7HYxRWmaNlJux-X7rNLZyw · https://twitter.com/TableauTim · https://www.linkedin.com/in/timngwena