I disagree entirely. Having a good way to perform contact tracing is going to be essential to helping getting things back open so that we can try to prevent outbreaks from becoming widespread. If you can let people know about exposure before they have a chance to spread it, that's going to be extremely vital until we have a vaccine and it's been widely adopted. Further, the next time something like this comes about, we'll have the framework in place to have it in the early stages.
To the privacy implications, are you sure you understand how it works? [From the FAQ](https://covid19.apple.com/contacttracing):
>The Exposure Notifications system harnesses the power of Bluetooth technology to aid in exposure notification. Once enabled, users’ devices will regularly send out a beacon via Bluetooth that includes a random Bluetooth identifier — basically, a string of random numbers that aren’t tied to a user's identity and change every 10-20 minutes for additional protection. Other phones will be listening for these beacons and broadcasting theirs as well. When each phone receives another beacon, it will record and securely store that beacon on the device.
>At least once per day, the system will download a list of the keys for the beacons that have been verified as belonging to people confirmed as positive for COVID-19. Each device will check the list of beacons it has recorded against the list downloaded from the server. If there is a match between the beacons stored on the device and the positive diagnosis list, the user may be notified and advised on steps to take next.
Does this resolve your concerns around the privacy implications of the service? If not, why not?
The privacy concern is the fact that it's not a voluntary install. It should be an app.
As for how useful it is now, that depends on your perception of how dangerous the virus is or isn't. The new information on the death rates from the CDC invalidates 94% of the attributed deaths, making COVID19 half as deadly as the annual flu.
Anyone who wants to be cautious has my blessing. I think we were wise to be cautious until we learned more. We have now. The evidence I see points to a massive overreaction.
>The privacy concern is the fact that it's not a voluntary install. It should be an app.
From the OP article:
>Users will need to authorise the system on their phone as it will be 'off' by default and can be flicked on or off at the user's discretion
>Instead of building an entire app, the new notification system only requires public health officials to submit a small configuration file to Apple and Google in order for it to work.
So, you still need to install an app (at least on Android, doesn't seem as clear cut on iOS). This change looks to be an attempt to make it easier to use and increase adoption due to the painfully slow uptick of local health authorities to build apps. The system appears to still be opt-in, but now you no longer need a local health authority to build and maintain an app so you can do that.
>As for how useful it is now, that depends on your perception of how dangerous the virus is or isn't. The new information on the death rates from the CDC invalidates 94% of the attributed deaths, making COVID19 half as deadly as the annual flu.
Not quite, it states that 94% of those deaths had at least 2 comorbidities. Diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity... while COVID-19 may have been the "straw the broke the camel's back" as far as cause of death, I think discounting the number of camel's out there with backs ready to break is naive.
Have it your way, you reasonably-minded-well-spoken-tumtwattle! I hope that you occasionally encounter people with their masks slid below their noses, and that Google and Facebook attempt to spy on you, but are narrowly unable to due to your lack of consent, resulting in a mild rush of anxiety as you click decline!
Such a scumbag move. They’re trying to sneak through politics under the guise of public safety. They want to continue drawing attention to coronavirus because they know that’s a winning issue for Biden. Why? I have no idea; people are too stupid to realize that Biden has suggested nothing that he would do that trump hasn’t already done months ago. Except lockdowns, which it will come out years from now that the lockdowns caused more death than coronavirus. Quote me. Idgaf. It will be published literature within 5 years.
Also, such a sleazy move from apple because on my phone the update got pushed out over the weekend, and kept trying to auto install, with NO INDICATION that it was trying to inject its bullshit into my phone that would track my location. Of course they did the press release days later, when the update had already been installed on most phones. Luckily I stonewalled that bullshit and refused to install it because Idk wtf else is in there.
Literally the only silver lining is that it’s an opt-in program. I suspect that will be fazed our with the next “update”. Liberty is infringed in incrementally.
8 comments
2 u/Neversage 01 Sep 2020 23:25
0 u/None 02 Sep 2020 00:02
1 u/Neversage 02 Sep 2020 00:46
2 u/None 02 Sep 2020 01:32
3 u/Neversage 02 Sep 2020 02:36
1 u/None 02 Sep 2020 05:36
1 u/Neversage 02 Sep 2020 13:23
2 u/Waves 02 Sep 2020 00:43