tracking apps on phones

How do you feel about governments talking about encouraging or forcing people with a smartphone to install/accept/allow special 'contact tracing' tracking apps to map/monitor the spread/distribution of Sars-COV-2 aka Covid-18/19/20 in your community as an incentive to relax or roll-back 'lockdown' or quarantine restrictions?

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zonavar68 · 51-55, M

Yes all mobile phones are already automatically 'tracked' by the phone companies, but not from a law enforcement angle. And yes every single mobile phone in use today has been manufactured in China. Go figure.

The other alternative is to stop using mobiles completely and revert to using a landline phone only. Here in Australia that's still possible even with the oldskool fixed-line network being replaced by the NBN.

zonavar68 · 51-55, M

Easy answer is to go back to a non-smart phone. There are a bunch of what are these days called 'feature phones' supporting 3g and 4g that don't run Android or Ios. Still all made in China though.

zonavar68 · 51-55, M

The Australian government is considering making it mandatory. Easy answers are to stop using a smartphone and get a non-IOS and non-Android phone, or stop using a mobile phone completely. Or if you must use one, turn it off and remove the battery when not in use. Depends how much you trust (or distrust) your country's government. ;-)

SW-User

@zonavar68 Well is that why I cant remove the battery. A sledge hammer will fix it in that case

zonavar68 · 51-55, M

@SW-User I believe some models of iphone have a very difficult to remove battery. Not sure about other makes.

SW-User

@zonavar68 My Samsung A30 its impossible to get inside

Frank52 · 70-79, M

I'm not sure it will make much difference. I've known two reported missing people traced by the police by tracking their phones. That's quite scarey as it is. Admittedly it is not yet down to person-to-person, but I wouldn't be surprised if they could do that anyway. The 'permission' is just a facade to cover what they already have the capability of doing. I am not paranoid enough to think that everyone is followed, but I think if they wanted to, the government could find out where I'd been easily enough.

SW-User

whats the motive I wonder

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zonavar68 · 51-55, M

@questionWeaver The Trace Together app is the one that's getting mentioned in the media, but recently there was talk that Apple and Google have been working together to create contract tracing apps specifically because of the coronavirus issue. of course governments will be looking at them for a lot more than that.

questionWeaver

@zonavar68 Singapore signed a contract with those two companies to develop the technology, so they could monitor and address people not social distancing

Now they are selling it around the world

SW-User

@zonavar68 After reading about it in the media it isnt clear how its gonna work. Are they saying that if you come close to someone with covid 19 you are automatically regarded as having covid 19. I understand that when someone dies these days if they had contact with someone who is positive for covid 19 that goes on their death certificate

questionWeaver

100% against

SW-User

@questionWeaver same here

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

And how exactly is that supposed to work ?

Always seems a problem to me when government comes up with ways to irritate it's populace rather than just do the bloody job we pay them for.

zonavar68 · 51-55, M

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