COVID-19 tracing without an app? There's an iOS and Android update for that
- Reference: 1599028210
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/09/02/google_apple_exposure_notifications_express/
- Source link:
The new [1]Exposure Notifications Express spec is baked into iOS 13.7, which emerged this week and will appear in an Android update due later this month.
This is not, repeat not, pervasive Bluetooth surveillance. The tool requires users to opt in, although public health authorities can use the tool to send notifications suggesting that residents do so.
Those who choose to participate agree to have their device use Bluetooth to search for other nearby opted-in devices, with an exchange of anonymised identifiers used to track encounters. If a user tests positive, and agrees to notify authorities, other users will be told that they are at risk and should act accordingly.
India's contact-tracing app grows an API to share health status info with businesses [2]READ MORE
The update is designed to let health authorities use Bluetooth-powered contact-tracing without having to build their own apps. It's still non-trivial to play, as the system requires one server to verify test results and another to run both contact-tracing apps and the app-free service.
Apple has published a succinct explainer [3]here and Google has offered up code for notifications server [4]on GitHub .
A couple of dozen US states have signed up for the new tool but other jurisdictions – among them India, Singapore and Australia – are persisting with their own approaches on the basis that the Apple/Google tech makes it harder for their manual contact-tracers to access information.
While the update will doubtless be welcome in many jurisdictions, contact-tracing apps have not proven quite the silver bullet many hoped. Singapore recently declined to tell The Register how many contacts its TraceTogether app had identified that were not possible by other means. Australia's app went many weeks before offering fresh information and even then was not of enormous use in combating a second wave of infections that has seen the city of Melbourne return to lockdown. ®
Get our [5]Tech Resources
[1] https://developer.apple.com/documentation/exposurenotification/supporting_exposure_notifications_express
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/24/indian_conatact_tracing_app_api/
[3] https://developer.apple.com/documentation/exposurenotification/supporting_exposure_notifications_express
[4] https://github.com/google/exposure-notifications-server/
[5] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Future of this
We've always been at war with Eurasia
Re: Future of this
I don't know, some of their earlier songs were quite catchy.
Re: Future of this
"the right opportunity to rethink"
The first steps to that would need to be both big tech and govts taking steps to gain trust. As they've all shown themselves to be untrustworthy that's a pretty difficult thing to achieve.
Re: Future of this
Why should we rethink our attitude towards anonymity? Apart from the fact that it's effectively compromised any time we take our digital devices with us, we need to defend it because what can be exploited, will be exploited.
No app required?
So this functionality is going to be baked into the OS?
And it'll get removed when the Covid-19 threat has passed, right?
Right?
Re: No app required?
...and it's something you have to "OPT IN" to....
If you want an alternative system without the functionality, I believe messages can be written in charcoal (or blood) on a piece of bark and despatched via HumanMessenger(TM) in a cleft stick
Re: No app required?
Opt in if you can. If you select "Exposure Notifications" from the menu, then select UK it says:
"Exposure notifications have not been turned on for your region by your public health authority". Because those servers have to be set up I suppose.
But you can toggle a switch to be notified if it does become available in your region.
Oh... No more updates for me then. What's that about Nokia 3310 20th birthday?
Warning app (german) running since it came out.
Although lots of drum-beating by unknowledgeable privacy advocates (all using watsapp and facehook) has resulted in less than stellar uptake, it seems to be checking 100-300 contacts every two weeks (introvert rural lifestyle). Certainly not full coverage, but still 100-300 contacts less to worry about.
I have substantially more faith in this solution than in the current crop of strange-haired world leaders..
upvote
just for "strange-haired world leaders"
I don't have much faith in either.
"The UK’s app is still being tested"
The costs of NIH.
The article confuses "England" with "the UK". Northern Ireland rolled out its Apple/Google app about a month ago.
Northern Ireland rolled out its Apple/Google app about a month ago.
I still don't understand why they didn't just use the (R.of) Irish one there. Having two apps for two very small population regions with an open land border seems a bit daft.
Wifi sniffing
As opposed to the wifi ID that Google and others are constantly sniffing for as a way to triangulate location? Or the cell tower ids that Google and others are constantly sniffing for, as a way to triangulate location?
Look, you interact with someone, they are wearing a mask, you are wearing a mask, you've both santized your hands. Bingo ONE LESS CONTACT, one less interaction to try to mitigate after the fact, ONE LESS SPREADER EVENT to trace.
Minimize the contacts. Minimize the risk.
Given you can be incubating and spreading for 5 days, that's a success. Tracing is after-the-fact partial mitigation of a failed interaction! Once its been spread, its spreading more. Nip it in the bud. Wear the mask.
Covid kills 1% of the population and mutates rapidly if you let it spread. So if you want to actually have a vaccine that works at some point, you have to stop it spreading. Fewer cases, fewer chances to mutate, fewer strains to vaccinate against.
If you let it spread, it has a large surface over which to mutate, and it will be like the Flu, new strains will keep coming back and there will be no Covid vaccine for the new strains, the jab will be for the old strains. Just like it is for the Flu.
There is no herd immunity for the flu, because there are an infinite number of strains of flu. Don't let Trump make infinite strains of Covid.
https://www.salon.com/2020/06/11/multiple-strains-of-coronavirus-are-now-circulating-in-the-us-heres-what-that-means/
Contact tracing is no substitute for mask wearing.
Re: Contact tracing is no substitute for mask wearing
It is not being proposed as such.
It's a package deal. You distance socially, you wear a mask, and if you still get infected (as you likely will at some point), contact tracing is used to ensure that you don't spread it.
This is not a multiple choice area, you use all of it or you don't get the best results.
The countries that have had the least COVID-19 impact are all countries that have implemented confinement, testing and tracing to the fullest extent.
It's not rocket science. The procedures are well known. It just requires political will.
And that's where the cookie crumbles.
Traceing App
The tracing app is stealthily, you may already have it in which case you are a carrier. Look in settings,google. If you see it you must isolate (Turn off Bluetooth and/or switch of the mobile all to gather).
This post is in guest. Google is getting more and more brazen with what they can do with your phone,data and your live. The concept of Not without permission seems to be dead. Given the poor record of google technology wise this app could easily accuse you of being a carrier.
Re: Traceing App
Anyone on Android 6 upwards received the Exposure Notification System API as part of an update to Google Play services. It's 'opt in' (Settings > Google, default is 'off') and still needs a Covid tracing app to be installed to work.
Or that's what they want you to think...
(not available on some Huawei phones... obviously they have other ways of tracking you!)
UK IS testing app based upon the Google & Apple system...
"A couple of dozen US states have signed up for the new tool but other jurisdictions – among them the UK, India, Singapore and Australia – are persisting with their own approaches on the basis that the Apple/Google tech makes it harder for their manual contact-tracers to access information."
This isn't true- the UK Gov are testing an app based upon the Google and Apple tools. Its called NHS Covid-19 and is available to folks in the IOW, LB of Newham and also NHS Responders for early testing..
Re: UK IS testing app based upon the Google & Apple system...
Citation please ?
I do seem to remember that UK Gov specifically refused to use the Google/Apple solution on the basis that it used a decentralized approach, whereas UK Gov, obviously, wanted a centralized approach.
Please point me to the web page that says I'm wrong.
Re: Re: UK IS testing app based upon the Google & Apple system...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53095336
Future of this
If I were to be optimistic, I would like to think that Covid gives us the right opportunity to rethink our attitude towards anonymity, personal responsibility towards society and our general attitude towards sharing our personal data where it matters and where it does not.
My experience with general populace makes me a bitter pessimist, though. This looks good on the surface but I don't like where it leads. It gives the incentive for keeping the perceived Covid thread alive long after the real threat will have been dealt with. Remind me again, are we still at war with Eurasia?