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Iphone Medicine

Coronavirus: Apple iPhones Can Contact-Trace Without COVID-19 App (bbc.com) 60

Posted by BeauHD from the no-app-required dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: Apple has begun letting its iPhones carry out contact-tracing without the need for users to download an official Covid-19 app. As an alternative, owners are being invited to opt in to a scheme called Exposure Notifications Express (ENE). This keeps a 14-day log of other phones detected via Bluetooth and serves an alert if one or more of their users is later diagnosed to have the virus. The local public health authority will determine what the notification says. It might tell the user to download a more fully functional app for further guidance. However, it also gives officials the option of not developing an app of their own, in which case the user could be directed to go to a testing centre or to call a hotline for more information.

IPhone owners who become ill without having received a warning message can still cause a cascade of alerts to be sent to others. But since they will not have an app to start the process, this will be done by tapping on a text message sent by the public health authority to their smartphone after a positive diagnosis. The facility is being rolled out as part of the latest update to Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 13.7, which has just been released. Android is expected to have a similar scheme that will launch later this month. "It will go by the same name, but rather than go down the app-less route, Google has opted to automatically create a basic coronavirus tracing app for public health authorities based on the criteria they provide," reports the BBC.
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Coronavirus: Apple iPhones Can Contact-Trace Without COVID-19 App More

Coronavirus: Apple iPhones Can Contact-Trace Without COVID-19 App

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  • I wondered about this (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Krishnoid ( 984597 ) on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @04:58PM (#60463168) Journal

    Between all the sensors the modern pocket convergence Skynet node has:

    • Bluetooth and mic/speaker outside of human audio range for proximity,
    • GPS-accurate clocks for nanosecond timestamps (to encode in audio pulses for distance measurement),
    • GPS and wi-fi for location,
    • Compass for orientation-ish info
    • Data connections to the cloud for multi-person analysis
    • External cameras and state-sponsored computing resources for human recognition and tracking

    You'd think smartphone capture x OS providers would be able to provide near-real-time social distancing information. I'm wondering why one of the more totalitarian administrations hasn't put together a solution for this -- if they had, it's not something you could (or would try to) keep under wraps.

    • Definitely make sure you power down your phones and put them in a faraday bag while attending your Resistance meetings. Otherwise they will know who your coconspirators are.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Aluminum foil or a metal cash box (if they still make them) would work great. There are some of us who refuse to be treated like cattle. They will do it, and we will resist.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by OMBad ( 6965950 )
          Sorry. You can't resist. You have no right to make me sick! This should be mandatory.

          • Sorry. You can't resist. You have no right to make me sick! This should be mandatory.

            This guy is a troll. Check his comment history and don't take the bait.

    • Because it would cost a lot of battery power, I suspect. You could demand that people carry their phones with them, but if they're draining every hour because you've got every single function running, it doesn't do anyone any good. On top of that, dead phones would be bad for business—a lot of places that might be able to implement that sort of thing run commerce off of the phone. WeChat in China is also a payment platform; if everyone's phone is out of battery, nobody's buying anything. Even in China

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      From a pure physics point of view it will be hard to go much better than 100uS for audio time stamping, probably 1ms with consumer grade hardware. Sound don't travel through the air as nice sharp square waves, and if it did you would hear it because of all the lower frequency components that would come in.

    • Please no, no ultrasound waves inaudible to humans. It will freak out all kinds of animals..!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by pnutjam ( 523990 )
      You too think Donald Trump might be a Terminator?

      1. Much heavier then he claims to be.
      2. Word salad may come from some sort of random noise generator.
      3. Thin margins of election could indicate tampering from AI
      4. No close friends.
      5. constant churn of inner circle (to avoid detection)
      6. appears to be bulletproof

  • That just sounds like... (Score:4)

    by CastrTroy ( 595695 ) on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @04:59PM (#60463170)

    That just sounds like the Covid 19 tracing app with fewer steps.

    • There are a bunch of morons out there who don't understand how the app worked, and refused to install it because they thought it would violate their privacy. From a public health perspective, this is a good thing Apple has done.

      And to all those who worry an app is tracing them, but still carry a phone that actually is tracing them (and is used by police for that purpose), why are you on a technology site?

    • It basically is.

      Regional governments have been slow to develop apps based on the joint API created by Apple and Google, despite how easy it is to use and how well it respects privacy. Some have acknowledged being slow to adopt it because of how well it protects privacy, some lack the resources to develop apps easily, and others simply refuse to believe that there's a need for something like this at all.

      We can't fix creepy government surveillance or politicians with their heads screwed on backwards, but for

  • apple healthcare 30% profit and 30% copays

  • So I guess if I don't want to deal with what I consider to be a hoax I'm buying a Pine phone.

    • Re:Pine phone it is! (Score:5, Informative)

      by OMBad ( 6965950 ) on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @05:35PM (#60463274)
      COVID-19 is NOT a hoax. It is a dangerous virus that is also lethal. Wash your hands. Stay home. Wear a mask. Most importantly: SOCIAL DISTANCE. The last one is the most important because the others are not 100% solutions!
      • The majority of cases outside of nursing facilities have been in family clusters. None of your recommendations address this nor will they. Healthy people should treat it as there flu and go about living their best lives. All others should mitigate their exposure accordingly. A one size fits all response is not effective and has done considerable damage to economies and other epidemics like depression and substance abuse.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by OMBad ( 6965950 )
          What about lung scarring and blood clots? It is better to be safe than sorry. Until the number of viruses are 0 we aren't safe.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by rlwinm ( 6158720 )
          You make an excellent point about other epidemics.

          Actually my cousin died because of the shutdown. They postponed a tumor removal procedure for her (to save beds for COVID patients). They figured it wasn't critical. It was. She was 46.

      • No, it's not a hoax, but the survival rate is 98.54%.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by rlwinm ( 6158720 )
          This is basically what I mean - I certainly don't doubt there is a virus of this family going around. It's a respiratory infection. It won't be my first and it won't be my last. It's certainly not something I will pay any mind to.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jrumney ( 197329 )

          For comparison, the survival rate of flu viruses is at least 99.8%.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Merk42 ( 1906718 )
          Just because you don't DIE, doesn't mean you don't suffer long term consequences [sciencemag.org].
        • The WHO is now saying 99.4% [bloomberg.com].

        • No, it's not a hoax, but the survival rate is 98.54%.

          Are you using some bullshit math from a Facebook meme which included people who haven't caught the virus, to fudge the numbers? You could make contact with live overhead electrical wires seem relatively safe too, using the same bullshit logic, since most people have enough sense to stay away from them.

          Mortality rate for a disease is calculated by dividing the number of deaths by the number of cases, and for Covid-19 in the USA it's approximately 3%. Yes, your actual survival rate will vary. Elderly morbi

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by rlwinm ( 6158720 )
        I supposedly live in a "hot spot" (south Florida).

        I've taken no precautions whatsoever (and I won't wear a mask period) - I know several people who had it. They all said it was nothing more than a bad cold, like the flu. I've never worried about the flu before (even though I'm up there in years) - why would I worry about this? If I get sick there is a 99% chance I get better.

        I have better odds of getting shmooshed in a traffic accident or dying by Miami gun fire or even a lightning strike than I do fr

    • So I guess if I don't want to deal with what I consider to be a hoax

      A hoax that the entire world happens to be in on, to what end? You can't truly believe the world leaders just all sat down together and agreed to stage a pandemic for the lulz.

  • so it's off most of the time. Also curious if Google can push this to my phone directly. I think they can via the "Play" app. I mean, I know they can, just wondering if they'll do it.

    Still, I'm pretty sure that by the end of next year these apps will be mandatory. Nobody's gonna care about your privacy with the amount of money (and I suppose lives too...) on the line.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by OMBad ( 6965950 )
      Yes. They will be mandatory now that millions/billions(?) of people are going to die of COVID-19. Finally a solution to viruses has been found after all these millions of years.
    • I thought I read that on both Apple and Android even if you go to the settings and "turn Bluetooth off" it will still wake up the BT radio and do a scan periodically (don't recall the rate).

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by bsolar ( 1176767 )

      Contact tracing uses the Bluetooth Low Energy [wikipedia.org] standard which has dramatically lower battery consumption than standard Bluetooth.

  • In fact you shouldn't even have to tap the link. When the public health service diagnoses you it should flag you automatically. In addition, you should be sent a sticker that indicates that you are infected. That way people that don't have iPhones will know you are infected. Maybe a yellow star would be best.
  • Contact tracing isn't about helping us. It's about making tech shit normal so we don't question it. They have been very successful. Coronavirus helps the cause.

  • "invited to opt in" for now (Score:3, Insightful)

    by schwit1 ( 797399 ) on Tuesday September 01, 2020 @05:47PM (#60463316)

    Then it's invited to 'opt out'
    Then it's opt-in or your health provider jacks up your rates.

  • This sounds kinda like the PACT [mit.edu] thing cooked up by Ron Rivest of RSA, Dan Weitzner of EFF and CDT, and some other folks. I know their idea had been pitched to Apple and Google, but I never heard a peep officially about whether or not what's been implemented has made any use of it.

  • I won't update iOS until the corona panic is over. Not worth having this crap on my phone.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by OMBad ( 6965950 )
      People are dying. It is your duty to update your device. Don't be selfish.

      • People are dying. It is your duty to update your device. Don't be selfish.

        I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or not. If you are, sorry for ruining the satire. ...but in the event you're not, then you're way off base.

        I pay my cell phone bill. If everyone else wants my data, everyone else can pay my cell bill. If it's selfish of me to expect my cell bill paid for (and a new phone while I'm at it, because why not), then it's selfish of me to assume anyone else is entitled to my location data.

        More to the point, I can't see how the contact tracing apps solve anything in a way that

        • If you want my location data, get a court order. My phone will tell you that I haven't left the North Pole for years.

          And you're another dumb poster who doesn't understand how contract tracing apps work. Hint: it doesn't care about your location data at all, and it doesn't share your location data with anyone. Look it up.

        • I very mych agree [slashdot.org]. And the person calling you names is probably not going to get off his high horse anytime soon.
  • I'd better latch on to conspiracy theories to make myself feel better. I can't bare the thought that sometimes bad things happen without people's malicious intent.
  • I do hope this is an opt-in option and not automatically turned on, as I don't give them permission to use my bluetooth to let others track me or track them..

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