 | |
| Founder | Ramesh Raskar |
|---|---|
| Founded at | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Type | 501(c)(3) organization |
Key people |
|
| Volunteers | 2,000+ |
| Website | pathcheck |
PathCheck Foundation is avolunteer-led nonprofit organization founded in February 2020 at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)[1][2] that developsCOVID-19 apps fordigital contact tracing.[3][4] The organization consists of over 1000 volunteers. In addition, various companies donate employee time to the foundation. The organization was previously known as COVID Safe Paths (and before MIT Safe Paths) but was renamed PathCheck Foundation on June 28, 2020.[citation needed]
The original technology for the PathCheck app was based on the MIT Private Kit: Safe Paths app created byRamesh Raskar with Sandy Pentland, Kent Larson, Steve Penrod, and Kevin Esvelt. The founding team included Abhishek Singh, Kristen Vilcans, Alina Clough, Francesco Maria Bendetti, Kaushal Jain, Khahlil Louisy, Sienna Leis, Greg Nadeau, Rachel Barbar, and John Werner.[5]
On July 8, 2020,Ramesh Raskar, chairman of PathCheck Foundation, addressed theUnited States House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services TaskForce on Artificial Intelligence during their hearing on "Exposure Notification and Contact Tracing: How AI Helps LocalitiesReopen Safely and Researchers Find a Cure", describing the use ofcontact tracing technologies used by PathCheck.[6] He also spoke about PathCheck's surveillance and privacy methods at theWall Street Journal Tech Health event.[7]
Apps developed by PathCheck have been adopted by the governments ofMinnesota,[8]Hawaii,Guam,[9]Puerto Rico,Teton County, Wyoming (home ofYellowstone National Park),[10][11][12][13][14] andCyprus.[15][16]