This proposed corona proximity alert app

FartingGnome

FartingGnome

Well-known member
What could possibly go wrong?

Sorry, I'll give one example.

It's dependent on people letting whoever's running it if they think they've got corona symptoms. However, if you haven't got them, or even if you have and you don't want to tell whoever's running it, or if you simply don't have the app then whoever you've been near won't get a message. And if they do and somebody's just got the sniffles and marks themselves down as having it there's going to be a false reading either way.

Only thing I can think of is there's something more sinister in the pipeline. But that would never happen, of course.
 
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From bbc

Mr Hancock signalled that using the app would be voluntary, in the brief comments he made about it.

If a medical test confirms that the original user is indeed infected, then a stronger warning - effectively a red alert - will be sent instead, signalling that the other users should go into quarantine.
To report testing positive, the user would have to enter a verification code, which they would have received alongside their Covid-19 status.
...


but if it’s voluntary then what is the point (not that I’m advocating a compulsory system btw) as it seems gimmicky and not really fit for purpose as how reliable will this be.
 
Sometime in the future.. it's voluntary BUT if you want your UBI payment or want to leave the country or want to book that week at centre parks etc etc you will need it.

That kind of voluntary
 
Currently you are recommended to regain 2m away from someone to avoid infection transmission. Presumably this app will work on Bluetooth rather than mast triangulations. What distance will be assumed for transmission that you need to quarantine? How accurate can Bluetooth estimate how far another phone is away from it?

What I really don't understand is why someone who is able to transmit the disease would be on the streets in the first place? Perhaps it's the time between a test and result, but surely that person is isolating? Or is it when we're testing randomly and their test comes back positive, anyone who has been close to that phone on the interim gets the quarantine warning? If so, most of the population will quickly be in quarantine when no transmission has taken place.
 
Wearing yellow stars next or a sign saying unclean - all to help public safety and security of course.

Much better to have a vaccine.
 
Redwurzel said:
Wearing yellow stars next or a sign saying unclean - all to help public safety and security of course.

Much better to have a vaccine.
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I'd rather not stay locked up inside for the rest of the year so I will be signing up as soon as possible. Given that Google and Facebook already know everything about us I can't see there being too many objections.
 
Surely this sort of app would only be any use as part of a mass testing and contact tracing programme? In that environment, it would be useful in helping trace people who have come into close proximity to someone who then tested positive in the following 14 days.

I can’t see the benefit otherwise. As others have said, if it’s to keep people away from those who are symptomatic, then those individuals should be self isolating anyway. If it’s voluntary, they’re hardly going to admit they have symptoms if they want to ignore the advice and leave their homes.
 
Sheriff_John_Bunnell_ret said:
I'd rather not stay locked up inside for the rest of the year so I will be signing up as soon as possible. Given that Google and Facebook already know everything about us I can't see there being too many objections.
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Exactly.
If you have an android phone Google knows where you are at anytime, doesn't matter if you turn off location. Same with apple.

I will also be signing up as soon as it's available.
 
Technically they know where the phone is. However what's the point of having a mobile phone if you haven't got it with you?
 
The concept, IF it is used with a rigorously controlled testing programme is very good. However, if you know anything about the Cambridge Analytica scandal then you have to be worried about your privacy being de-anonomysed and used for other purposes.
The testing facilities have to come first though otherwise the app is useless.
 
Some of these organisations must think Xmas has come early and many times - with the data they will be able to collect on people.

If you watch recent videos from China you can see everyone is having their phone checked as they enter an area, it appears you tracked almost everywhere. Makes Orwell's world of "1984" look like a freedom Utopia. It also interests me that China is seen as a low income economy but everyone seems to have the latest gadgets, many have branded clothing and most of the buildings look less than 20 years old.
 
Redwurzel said:
Some of these organisations must think Xmas has come early and many times - with the data they will be able to collect on people.

If you watch recent videos from China you can see everyone is having their phone checked as they enter an area, it appears you tracked almost everywhere. Makes Orwell's world of "1984" look like a freedom Utopia. It also interests me that China is seen as a low income economy but everyone seems to have the latest gadgets, many have branded clothing and most of the buildings look less than 20 years old.
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Just have a look on AliExpress and you'll see why that is Red, they make smartphones like Smarties, there are all sorts of manufacturers that we never see in the West.
 
I certainly don't see it as blackmail. I see it as a necessity and a positive. I see little point in bolting the door of a stable where the horses have long since bolted and I don't think comparing our current situation to those of the past is in any way relevant. This is a different situation to any we have faced before.
 
Whist in principle I think this could be an effective tool, how do you mitigate the daft árse who decides to flag themself as symptomatic 'for a laugh', it would be a costly wild goose chase if someone were to engage in that sort of behaviour
 
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