RALEIGH – Believing that artificial intelligence can improve so-called “contact tracing” and also protect people’s privacy in the battle against COVID-19, Raleigh-based startup Diveplane is rolling out a program called “Aware.”

Crucial to the program is the use of Diveplane-developed “Geminai” which the venture capital-backed company “creates a verifiable synthetic ‘twin’ dataset with the same statistical properties of the original data, but without including the real-world confidential or personal information.” (Diveplane recently won first place in Technology Enablement at the UBS 2019 Future of Finance Challenge for Geminai.)

The use of Geminai, Diveplane says, addresses a key concern about contact tracing: Personal privacy. Diveplane also has partnered with another company, Iron Bow Technologies, to further protected gathered data.

“Accurate but secure contact tracing is foundational for reducing the spread of disease,” says Diveplane about the method of tracking exposure to diseases, a technique that dates back decades.

Butcontact tracing through modern technology via smartphone apps has raised concerns about data privacy and security.

Diveplane, founded by former Epic Games CEO, wins kudos for its AI platform GEMINAI

“Concerned citizens have been eyeing the tradeoff between controlling outbreaks using apps and intrusions on privacy,” the Associated Press reported earlier this week. “Civil liberty groups and tech watchdogs have warned about contact tracing apps, saying governments and companies should not be able to access personal data.

Diveplane, however, went ahead with the launch of Aware based on the company’s stated belief that contact tracing can:

  • Interrupt ongoing transmission and reduce spread of infection
  • Alert contacts & public services personnel to the possibility of infection at a specific location
  • Information and context needed for more accurate epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment
  • Data to help prevent reinfections
  • Contract tracing provides a ‘guidance system’ for a broader population health management platform that greatly informs analysis and decisions

Alan Cross, chief commercial officer at Diveplane, talked about the program in an exclusive Q&A with WRAL TechWire.

  • What factors led to Diveplane’s decision to move into the contact tracing business?

For any contact tracing solution to be successful and widely adopted, there needs to be public confidence that data privacy is at the heart of the solution. The Geminai solution by Diveplane uses synthetically-created cloned data to ensure that no personal data is made available through the service. However, the technology maintains statistical relevance to ensure that the data being used is relevant and valuable.”

  • How can Diveplane and partners assure people data is safe and private?

“Uniquely, the Aware solution is built around the concept that data security and privacy is paramount, and the solution has been built around that principle.

Collected patient data will never leave the secure Iron Bow infrastructure. (Iron Bow Technologies builds private cloud solutions that are secure, and is a certified trusted integrator with the “Commercial Solutions for Classified (CSIC)” certification, supporting government agencies with its classified secure facility.)

From that point forward, only synthetically-created data will be used and this process has the ability to ensure that the new data can never be re-engineered back to the original data. In fact, this approach means that data can be more widely shared across multiple agencies from healthcare providers, first responders, government agencies, state officials and for broader public availability.

Using Geminai-created data should actually encourage the wider distribution of data when its most critically needed.”

  • How will Diveplane and its partners generate revenue from this project?

Revenue will be generated through license to use the solution. Customers will be regional healthcare providers or State Health & Human Services Departments.”