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COVID-19 Stokes Demand for Temperature Check Technologies

Elizabeth Lee

   LOS ANGELES - Eager to open up, companies, shopping centers and sports
   venues worldwide are looking into thermal imaging technology that picks
   up the body temperature of people entering buildings in order to deter
   the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

   Demand for technology that automatically scans for a fever has grown
   globally since the pandemic began. With that demand, there are also
   concerns about privacy, security and other workplace issues, experts
   say.

   Companies "need to be mindful of the fact that collecting data about
   people in particular is increasingly seen as a liability," said Bhaskar
   Krishnamachari, an electrical and computer engineering professor at the
   University of Southern California. "If that data, for example, gets
   hacked, gets abused, there can be a lot of repercussions, even
   financially, for the organizations involved."

   Businesses that are reopening and employers who have to keep their
   doors open during a pandemic in industries such as transportation, food
   processing and government are scrambling to come up with ways to keep
   sick people out.

   Many stores, doctors' offices and salons take people's temperatures
   with handheld thermometers, but those devices cannot be used for large
   venues with a lot of foot traffic, such as stadiums and airports.

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