traceable vs trackable: What is the difference (if any)? [closed]

Solution 1:

The main difference between the two terms which are often interchangeable appears to be their usage in the package delivery industry:

It would appear that the two words might be interchangeable. However, in the package delivery industry, “track and trace” are used as two separate ideas.

Tracking means determining the current location, and tracing means determining past locations of an item being delivered, generally using barcodes or RFID technology.

Thus, tracing means following the footsteps or a continuous line of something with the goal of finding the route (the journey), whereas tracking means finding a spot here and there where intermittent tracks have been left with the goal of finding the item or animal (the destination).

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Solution 2:

Both are very similar terms that describe an the ability to determine where an object is at a certain point in time. Typically, tracking deals with the ability to find where something is at the current moment - if you are tracking an animal, or tracking a package you're shipping, you want to know where they are right now. Tracing, on the other hand, connotes a memory component, implying the ability to know the history of an item's location or origin.

A GPS tracker might show you where it is currently, but it wouldn't show you where it has been without additional software to keep a record. Conversely, contact tracing approaches for controlling the spread of coronavirus rely on retrospective analysis of contacts that have occurred in the past, rather than following a person's current movements.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_and_trace