COVID-19 Tracing App now available in England

Yeah i think that’s enough reason for me not to download the app.

I suppose I could download it and turn it off whilst at home but that means I’ll inevitably forget to turn it back on when I leave the house

When you turn it off there’s a popup asking if you want reminding in 4,8,12hrs or never to turn it back on.

At least on Android.

I’ve seen the same on iOS

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Would you not rather know to avoid your neighbour?

If you get an alert, it means you need a test, not to be taken out the back and shot.

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Yeah seems like better safe than sorry. And better safe for everyone.

The app doesn’t alert anyone other than you - so you can choose whether to think it was your neighbour or someone out and about I guess.

You wouldn’t know who triggered the alert. Could be someone at work, fellow passenger etc.

But, you are correct, it just means you get a test, which isn’t ideal.

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But then this is the trade-off that the privacy-first design of the app creates. Personally, I think that’s fine.

There is no information about location taken into account at all, and no information of who it actually was who tested positive. I think that, by and large, this is OK as it doesn’t really matter; if you have been potentially exposed you need a test - but it will result in edge cases like those cited.

When talking about trials on the Isle of Wight, as well, we do have to be careful as there were two trials of two totally separate apps - so if the case cited referred to the first trial, that was different (less reliable) technology anyway.

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That’s not always true.

The message said the official had been shot as part of measures to prevent people from bringing the coronavirus into the country.

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I mean… this is the U.K. we are talking about here!

We would hope that things might be different when you are fortunate enough to live in a democratically accountable country.

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I knew there was a better way to handle this!

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This 10 pm curfew thing. I can’t understand how Cummings and his team of super forecasters didn’t foresee this.

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Just like the old days :smile:

This is great for Cummings though. These pics are even more ammunition for the ‘look at irresponsible young people causing a covid crisis’.

By the time they actually have to lock down again they’ll want airtight ‘evidence’ that its not their fault.

You would hope that the brick wall would attenuate the Bluetooth signal sufficiently that the app didn’t register it as “close contact” but, I agree, it’s possible.

The designers had a choice between accuracy vs privacy, and the Apple/google model forces them towards the privacy end of that scale.

It’s worth noting that the notifications telling you to self isolate are advisory. You have absolutely nothing to lose by downloading the app and trying it.

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Agree. And for the record, the app is on my phone.

About to go test it in the outside world :smile:

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I’d only want to know if I had been within 2m of someone and had been in the position of having contact with them.

In this case I wouldn’t have actually had any contact with him, I’d just have been on the different side of a wall.

I very much doubt the virus travels through brick walls

Many apps that you already have on your phone are tracking you many have built a profile of you, if it’s free you are the product. At least with this you’d be saving lives.

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Case in point: Monzo had Facebook analytics.

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Had. They removed it after people noticed/complained.

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@revels is right: “Had.”, until February of this year.

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