[COVID-19] - News & Discussion

[Asyn]

Contact tracing apps face their day of reckoning
https://blog.avast.com/the-good-and-bad-of-tracing-apps-avast

[Asyn]

Russian hackers target COVID-19 vaccine research with custom malware
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/russian-hackers-target-covid-19-vaccine-research-with-custom-malware/
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/files/Advisory-APT29-targets-COVID-19-vaccine-development.pdf

[polonus]

CovidSafe Australia app, a very prestigious project, very meager results while the costs ran into 43 million euro's.
Comment: https://www.skynews.com.au/details/_6173515766001

Maybe folks there are cautiously keeping their 6 feet social distance
or Australians just do not seem to meet often enough to give results.
The unicorn was rather shy...

polonus

[rocksteady]

Until recent spike of COVID19 in Victoria, Australia seemed to be doing well with low numbers of cases. I thought he would say the App did not work because of low numbers of infections in the population, but he then says it does not work even during latest spike. Not sure what % of population downloaded or then actually use the App, due to reported concerns over personal privacy.

It is winter down there. Before the recent lock-down, shopping centres, hairdressers, gyms etc were all open and face masks were not generally worn. The spread of the virus seems worse in cooler conditions, maybe when more people are indoors, hence concern about potential second wave here in Norhern Hemisphere his coming winter.

Does anyone know if a COVID19 tracing App is really making a difference anywhere in the world?

[Asyn]

Does anyone know if a COVID19 tracing App is really making a difference anywhere in the world?

Most probably only in the countries where people are forced to use it.

[DavidR]

Does anyone know if a COVID19 tracing App is really making a difference anywhere in the world?

Most probably only in the countries where people are forced to use it.

I can't see how anyone could be forced to use it, even in certain countries.  How do they get it on their phones, how do they know it is on their phones, how do they get people in such a country to switch their phones on.

I have never thought these apps are a good idea, even if enough people installed the app to possibly be effective when there are hacking stories abound.  Not to mention the potential for false negative and deliberate false positive reporting to spread fear and alarm in areas of high/dense population.  Many such articles about these doubts, fears.

[Asyn]

Does anyone know if a COVID19 tracing App is really making a difference anywhere in the world?

Most probably only in the countries where people are forced to use it.

I can't see how anyone could be forced to use it, even in certain countries.  How do they get it on their phones, how do they know it is on their phones, how do they get people in such a country to switch their phones on.

Well, that's what they did in e.g. China. They had checkpoints there.

[DavidR]

Does anyone know if a COVID19 tracing App is really making a difference anywhere in the world?

Most probably only in the countries where people are forced to use it.

I can't see how anyone could be forced to use it, even in certain countries.  How do they get it on their phones, how do they know it is on their phones, how do they get people in such a country to switch their phones on.

Well, that's what they did in e.g. China. They had checkpoints there.

We can see just how effective that was/is (to start with), what they need to be concerned with is not monitoring after the infection in the first place.  Prevention, not cure should be the watchword.

[Asyn]

Does anyone know if a COVID19 tracing App is really making a difference anywhere in the world?

Most probably only in the countries where people are forced to use it.

I can't see how anyone could be forced to use it, even in certain countries.  How do they get it on their phones, how do they know it is on their phones, how do they get people in such a country to switch their phones on.

Well, that's what they did in e.g. China. They had checkpoints there.

1. We can see just how effective that was/is (to start with), what they need to be concerned with is not monitoring after the infection in the first place.
2. Prevention, not cure should be the watchword.

1. Afaik, it was/is quite effective, but I doubt they care about privacy one bit.
2. Agreed..!!

[bob3160]

To be affective, tracing apps must be used by 60% of the population.
https://youtu.be/ZaTHC_HXsH4

[rocksteady]

Well, that's what they did in e.g. China. They had checkpoints there.

Whilst effective, lockdown and enforcement checkpoints are not examples of a working COVID19 trace and track app.
South Korea were good at track and trace, but believe they were combining card transactions, mobile phone tracking and other personal data to do this, not just a app. I suspect use of bluetooth for proximity detection is not precise enough and varies from device to device.
In UK word was that Germany had a working app. true/false?
There are quite a few international posters on this forum, so my question still stands, is there a working app out there or is it just fiction.

[polonus]

Hi ye all,

You will get a bonus on your order with many firms for turning on your android geo-location for a period of 3 years.
Surveillance of individuals may do the trick but wearing face-masks does not help face-recognition, does it?

In the Netherlands they monitor the general sewer-outlets,
checks on the common loo gives reliable estimates for local outbreaks.

Are you lucky to have bloodgroup 0, or is your luck in having A?

polonus

[DavidR]

Hi ye all,

You will get a bonus on your order with many firms for turning on your android geo-location for a period of 3 years.
Surveillance of individuals may do the trick but wearing face-masks does not help face-recognition, does it?
<snip>
Are you lucky to have bloodgroup 0, or is your luck in having A?

polonus

Bonus, no thanks, who knows just what else this data might be used for.

Common as muck, O Positive, considering that O Positive is the largest/ most common blood type (but not by much, A Positive is right up there).

https://www.healthline.com/health/rarest-blood-type
World Figures
O-negative (6.6 percent) B-positive (8.5 percent) A-positive (35.7 percent) O-positive (37.4 percent)

[Asyn]

South Korea were good at track and trace, but believe they were combining card transactions, mobile phone tracking and other personal data to do this, not just a app. I suspect use of bluetooth for proximity detection is not precise enough and varies from device to device.

-> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/21/technology/korea-coronavirus-app-security.html

[Asyn]

There are quite a few international posters on this forum, so my question still stands, is there a working app out there or is it just fiction.

While we have a working app here (Stopp Corona), currently only 8% have it installed, so it's basically useless.

Edit: Typo