Word of the Day
May 14, 2020
Tracing
The practice of identifying and monitoring individuals who may have come into contact with an infected person; more broadly, the systematic tracking of people’s movements, contacts, or activities by authorities.
From Old French 'tracier' meaning to follow a path or track, derived from Vulgar Latin 'tractiare' meaning to drag or draw along.
Usage Examples
- Contact tracing can be valuable early in an epidemic but becomes impractical as a disease spreads widely through the population.
- The proposed $100 billion tracing program raised concerns about permanent government surveillance infrastructure.
- Critics argued that tracing healthy individuals represented an unprecedented expansion of state power over private citizens.
From the Show
The concept of tracing became central to the May 14th discussion as Dr. Jill Vecchio examined House Resolution 6666 and its $100 billion contact tracing proposal, warning that such programs create permanent surveillance infrastructure far beyond pandemic response.