Hopefully Apple will use its weight to make sure it can be private... tho contact tracing is the literal definition of non-anonymous. Knowing everyone you've been near to is straight up 1984 level surveillance, and can easily be used against people. Don't want to opt into contract tracing? Oh well, can't let you into {insert any activity/location at all}. This can get dangerous quickly in the wrong hands.
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Apple and Google Partner on Opt-In COVID-19 Contact Tracing Technology to Be Added to iPhone and Android Smartphones
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Since it's integrated in the OS, there is no guarantee that turning off BT will disable it. And somehow I doubt it will be removed once the pandemic is over.
Also great to "trace" political dissidents and uncover their contact network, or journalists and their sources ...
...unless you're a citizen of China. If so, Apple throws open all the back doors at the request of the Chinese government.
I appreciate Apple's privacy policies in my own country, but they are very hypocritical when they get to pick and choose where those protections matter.
How can contact tracing be private? Making something opt-in doesn‘t make it private.
Especially when you can "accidentally" be opted in even though you chose otherwise.
While I agree, I will point out...they already know where you are basically all the time. With this...or without it. You're walking around with a GPS enabled device on your person all day, every day. If they want to find you...they will, with or without your consent.
Sadly, until recently I would agree 100%. Nothing is guaranteed under the current US regime. It is a free for all and law and sanity do not mean what they used to. Macrumors may want to put this thread in the Political section.
Despite being satisfied with Apple's stance on privacy...I'm not on board for this one. Add Google into the mix...and definitely not on board.
If this is an API, doesn't that exclude a ton of Android devices which will never be updated to the latest OS?
From a technical perspective, I'm curious if we can share the information needed and no more-- can we protect health and privacy? From a personal/political perspective I find this ominous.
From a technical perspective, I'm curious if we can share the information needed and no more-- can we protect health and privacy? From a personal/political perspective I find this ominous.
We need this (not necessarily from Apple/google but contract tracing and widespread testing in general) to reopen the economy. The only other option is a very effective pharmaceutical (vaccine or antiviral), and those are nowhere near ready.
if you really think this is worse than a 6+ month shelter in place... well I just don’t know what to tell you.
if you really think this is worse than a 6+ month shelter in place... well I just don’t know what to tell you.
This is only the latest tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately, the only way we can hope to avoid being tracked is to not carry a phone or other such device on our person. And this will only work in places which are not rife with public CCTV cameras, unlike London etc.
This is a privacy disaster in the making. Shame on Apple for going along with this. It WILL be misused for non-health purposes, you can count on it.
They can say you can't keep your job unless you install it on your personal device and opt in. New public health rules may allow them to do that.
whats the point of knowing where people where if its supposedly private? you will not be able to contact those people that were potentially in contact with an invected? and by the time you analyse something, it has already spread.
I could confidently say that my governor will probably wet his pants with excitement about this thing. He's on a bit of a power trip the last few weeks and he seems to be thoroughly enjoying it. If he can find a way to get his hands on data like this...he'll be a happy man. Much to the concern of us in this state who wonder how many restrictions and regulations he will or won't remove when this is over. Some people are pretty concerned about him and the power he's giving himself.
Imagine your phone being able to let you know that you were recently (say in the past week) standing near someone who then tested positive for coronavirus? Useful warning to quarantine yourself. The big challenge is in doing that in a way that protects your privacy.
Yeah, just laugh it off as “optional” now. Then the decree comes “you don’t have to self isolate if you opt in” and suddenly it doesn’t seem so optional. Want to go out to eat, go to a show, visit the park? All you have to do is opt in...
Count me out. There is already too much tracking and back door spying built into smart phones as it is.
Either give up the Chinese market or capitulate. Not much option there. At least they did so in a way that only screws citizens of China, not the rest of the world.
If I need to trust someone with this it would be Apple, but no thank you anyway.
No, legally they cannot do that, if they fire you for it, then they would be hit with a lawsuit.
Yeah, it's much better to shut down the world for a year and destroy the economy for good.
My concern is what happens when some government decides disloyalty is a disease. Or any particular activity they don't like... Who is this "bad actor" coming into contact with? That's the dream of every authoritarian government.
I agree Apple will try to architect this to maintain as much privacy as possible, but I'm not sure how that's actually possible to maintain in this scenario (which is why it's opt-in, so people can voluntarily give up their right to privacy). I'm not an expert and haven't thought it through, but I'd imagine that unless you spent at least one 15min cycle without being in proximity to anyone at all, they can stitch together the full set of interactions across identifier changes.