Posted on 03/31/2020 6:52:51 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
The government is preparing to release an app which alerts people if they come too close to someone who has tested positive for COIVD-19, Sky News can reveal.
The contact tracking app, which will operate on an opt-in basis, will be released either just before or just after the lockdown is lifted, according to several people with close knowledge of the project.
NHS bosses hope the app will attract more than 50% of the population, as large numbers of people using it together will be necessary for it to work effectively.
The existence of the app, which was first revealed by Health Service Journal, has been known some time, but key technical details have only recently been agreed by NHSX, the NHS England innovation unit leading the project.
The app will detect other phones in close vicinity using short-range Bluetooth signals, then store a record of those contacts on the device, the sources say.
If someone tests positive for COVID-19, they will be able to upload those contacts, who can then be alerted - after a suitable delay, to avoid accidentally identifying an individual - via the app.
This method means data is not sent regularly to a central authority, potentially easing concerns around privacy, which NHSX fears may slow adoption of the app.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.sky.com ...
BAD idea. This will just ramp-up the fear and panic.
A person ID’s by their phone as a carrier will be set upon and beaten by numbskulls.
Why not just print a scarlet V on their forehead?
Need to make an “RoP Tracking App” - So British subjects can avoid the accidental triggering of lone-wolf terrorists and not offend them/have their heads chopped off.
People are going to think twice about rushing to get tested. Given the pervasiveness and permanence of any data collected by the government, you just might not want to be known as someone who becomes infected even if you had a “mild” illness and recovered. Think about it. Would you want to work next to someone who had the virus? How do you know if that person is still “shedding” and infectious to others? Do you really trust the government not to abuse the data it collects or to shield it from hackers?
Or put another way. Would not invest in the NYC real estate market or invest in companies that service the NYC tourist industry.
Who in their right mind wants to live in or visit densely populated areas?
Now our cell phones are going to become our jailers.
If one is symptomatic and positive, I'd expect them to either be home in bed or in a hospital, not jogging along the Thames. If they've recovered enough to go out for a run, I wouldn't be too worried.
This could be one of the dumbest ideas they've had since the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660.
there must be a way to augment radical muslim terrorist cells eliminate each other lurking somewhere in this scheme...
It’d be cheaper to make them wear gold stars.
Well done! And by post #6.
Do you think knowing who is contagious is worse than assuming that everyone is contagious?
An empty foil potato chip bag is your friend.
NSA can probably tell who has been within ten feet of you just from the metadata on your and their cellphone location data. (With the assumption you carry your cellphone everywhere...)Bring Out Your Dead
Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.
The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.
The false positive rate was 100%.
At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.
*sigh* Such is life, and death...
If a quarantine saves just one child's or one old fart’s life, it's worth it.
I sincerely hope they don’t try this in the US. I’d be tempted to buy a RF-proof carry wallet for my cell phone. Yeah, you couldn’t contact me directly but you could leave me a voice mail.
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