Patch Lady – 13.7 adds covid notifications

Topic

New Reply

The Apple 13.7 iOS update adds Covid-19 contract tracing BUT only if your location and health department has enabled it.  I know Virginia has one alre
[See the full post at: Patch Lady – 13.7 adds covid notifications]

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

2 users thanked author for this post.

woody, Mele20

Reply | Quote

Replies

As posted late last month by @alex5723:
iOS 13.7 beta. Covid-19 opt-in ‌Exposure Notification‌. No app required

1 user thanked author for this post.

woody

Reply | Quote

My opinion is its creepy and the potential for abuse is staggering.  Really feels like Big Brother is Watching You come to life.

5 users thanked author for this post.

lanceboil, Fred, Myst, Cybertooth, DriftyDonN

Reply | Quote

and its associated w/ google so another reason for me to NOT use this capability  I am google free forever! I tried to update last night thru itunes on my win10pro but for some reason my FIOS dl speed to apple was <25 kbs!! Hardwired. I stopped the download after about an hour and 15 min. And ran a speed test- 100+mbs!!!

read an article about whats new in this new version and the author only talked about the covid connection. So I’m in no hurry to get this update. Actually I have it stored on my pc but I think I’ll wait till next month for IOS 14.

Also, my cell provider-boost/dish does not support lte connection on my new iphone 11 (which I purchased from them in apr) I suspect(not certain) the speed on my phone OTA would be much slower- I only get 2 bars at best. Likely will go to Verizon but must research cell reception in my neighborhood first.

Is it me or is this constant upgrade/update/patch routine on IOS and win10 getting stale?

2 users thanked author for this post.

doriel, Cybertooth

Reply | Quote

Not at all.
No privacy data is sent to local health authorities.
The new Apple-Google version doesn’t require installing app which can track you.
No GPS tracking.

Reply | Quote

alex, you must be aware that google is NOT INTERESTED IN PROTECTING YOUR PRIVACY-just the opposite-not to mention what health dept(gov’t controlled) is all that secure? no way I would participate in this.

1 user thanked author for this post.

lanceboil

Reply | Quote

I’m VERY privacy oriented but I don’t see a “staggering” potential for abuse and I am very much for this. Our Hawaii island County Council had a proposal for our county developing an app for this on the agenda for yesterday’s meeting. I was going to testify, but was really sick so I couldn’t.

My phone is installing 13.7 now.

Reply | Quote

Tell your council the new Apple-Google Covid019 version DOESN’T need an app to function.
All Apple devices and Android devices will get the new version.

Reply | Quote

My phone finished updating and now I am confused. I already had this capability in iOS 13.6.1 (and on my Apple watch). There is nothing new that I can see. I could not actually turn on Covid exposure notifications in iOS 13.6.1 and still have to wait for my County to decide to do this.

I’m annoyed. I thought I was getting something badly needed in this nation…but no, it still depends on implementation at the county or state level. UGH. It should be available to anyone, anywhere in this nation who wants it as our lives may depend on it. In 13.7, it is still turned OFF by default, and just like in 13.6.1, you cannot turn it ON UNLESS your state or county has approved usage in your area.

This capability should be turned on nationally. Your phone, even on 13.7, has it turned off by default and only YOU decide if you want to participate. So, the decision to use it or not lies solely with the iPhone user and Apple has done the right thing and it is OFF until YOU decide to turn on in the few areas in this nation where it is available. It should be made available everywhere in the nation to anyone who wants it.

Reply | Quote

[Alex5723]

My phone finished updating and now I am confused. I already had this capability in iOS 13.6.1 (and on my Apple watch). There is nothing new that I can see

Yes, there is.
The previous version needed a local developed app to connect to.
The new version doesn’t need your government to develop an app.
No app = more privacy.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by Alex5723.

Reply | Quote

I am in Australia and I have downloaded our program.  About 6M (25% of the population) have also downloaded.  Some people think that it is a waste of time and that it has not located anybody as yet.  Most of our locations are by human beings tracing from people who have contracted the disease. 
Personally I think that it is a complement to physical tracing.

Laurie LINDSAY

2 users thanked author for this post.

LH, Fred

Reply | Quote

The jury is out over whether this form of tracking works, especially as you need an app that actually works (the Australian developed one certainly doesn’t), have it loaded and have most people also run an app that works.

With the Google-Apple app coming to the party so late, I suspect we’ll probably never have enough data to decide it actually works and few places are going to mandate an app that may not actually have any benefit.

Seems that manual track and trace is the best method, but the biggest impediment is lack of a fast, simple test that everyone can use regularly. Then we will have a better idea of who actually has been infected.

cheers, Paul

1 user thanked author for this post.

Myst

Reply | Quote

Paul T wrote:

Seems that manual track and trace is the best method, but the biggest impediment is lack of a fast, simple test that everyone can use regularly. Then we will have a better idea of who actually has been infected.

That is so right, and a tracking/tracing App cannot and may not be an “instrument” to coverup the lack of protecting and testing materials. Nursing, Schools, youngsters, sports, nursing are experiencing shortages all over, in spite of the announcements of the official main stream media.
Keep politics and economics out of the discussions and start protecting the common and vulnarable people is what people in this country want too

* _ ... _ *

Reply | Quote

UncleRemus83 wrote:

My opinion is its creepy and the potential for abuse is staggering.  Really feels like Big Brother is Watching You come to life.

Here, the necessary special legislation for the tracking / tracing app has still not been approved by parliament, precisely because that privacy is not guaranteed; especially not because of the use of Google and Apple in this specific app, plus the certainty that if the app is removed, all data will be deleted.

* _ ... _ *

Reply | Quote

In the mean time legislation was approved this afternoon, and at the Same time security researchers revealed a couple of weaknesses in the Google and Apple tracking, that is functional in the national CoronaTrackingApp . Exciting

* _ ... _ *

Reply | Quote

The Google Android phone requires an app and Maryland does not have one yet.  I am in favor of this technology and have been writing a COVID-19 daily newsletter since mid-March and have covered this technology.  I am in favor of all the tech tools we can put in place to help prevent the ongoing spread of the virus and keep a semblance of normalcy to our daily lives.  the privacy issues can be maintained as this paper from MIT shows.  One of the developers is Ron Rivest who was one of the pioneers of the RSA algorithm.

Reply | Quote

Hi,

New to signing up and posting, but I’ve been reading here for a while and felt I needed to chime in on this.

This feels like we’re heading towards the point where it will be turned on without any user choice and I’m not comfortable with that at all.  Using BT as a way to contact trace also doesn’t take into account every possible situation and is ripe for abuse as well as incorrect readings.  I work in IT (Tier 2 support) for EMS in NY.  I come into class B contact (direct contact of others who were in contact with known positive cases) fairly frequently due to my direct work with Paramedics and EMTs.  If the patient has this on their phone and the crews have it on their phone, then I interact with the crew.. You can see where I’m going with this.  Will this trigger an alert every time one of us comes in contact with a COVID patient?  Even though the amounts of PPE we use is far higher than the mask most people generally are wearing (as well as the extensive training we’ve all received about proper use of PPE)? Using BT can’t account for that.  With the amount of attention this is getting, they really need to rethink this before it’s too late.

Reply | Quote

For me, Bruce Schneier had the definitive response: “absolutely no value”.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2020/05/me_on_covad-19_.html

2 users thanked author for this post.

MrJimPhelps, Fred

Reply | Quote

It has appeared in my Android phone as well. I’m in Texas so I’m not sure if that matters, yet.
I looked in the area where you can uninstall apps but it doesn’t show there. Does anyone know if this Covid tracing app can be removed?

Reply | Quote

I don’t know what you got on your Android. But we are talking about an API, not an app, which you can’t uninstall and which require you (at least on iPhone) to join.
This API has nothing to do with tracking just like 5G has nothing to do with spreading Covid-19

Moderator note: Edit for content.

Reply | Quote

Maybe that’s it, Alex. I just know that it showed up on my phone about a week ago in the ‘Settings > General > Google’ section. I checked with a few friends and it happened to them as well. It wasn’t there before and nobody seems to know what it does.

Reply | Quote

As I said, it is an Apple-Google API you can join or decline. Nothing to do with tracking. All it does is connect to other devices (iPhone and Android) via BT to check for infected Covid-19 people that declared themselves as such.
There is no usage of GPS…

Reply | Quote

Well, it still sounds like tracking ‘if’ you voluntarily choose to opt-in for other devices to know you are near. Else how would the public health authorities know to contact everyone to notify that you are near each other? Tracking isn’t just about GPS location, it’s also the person on the other end of the device – which can then be identified. Yes, I know all smart phones can send your personal data back to the service provider. blah blah blah. This still sounds like another form of tracking to me.

Reply | Quote

You still don’t get it. No tracking.
Each smartphone that its user has joined the API will transmit an anonymous “hashed” string that that identify his smartphone, to your smartphone, if you joined. The identifier will be saved for 14 days. Your smartphone will do the same.
If a person that joined the API declare himself to the health authorities as infected all those that had his “hashed” string will get an alert.

Everything is done anonymously.

Reply | Quote

It’s still a form of voluntary tracking whether you understand it or not.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Fred

Reply | Quote

[Mele20]

Alex5723 wrote:

Yes, there is.
The previous version needed a local developed app to connect to.
The new version doesn’t need your government to develop an app.
No app = more privacy.

Yes. It does! I clicked on a bunch of states and ALL except two (New York and North Carolina) told me there was no app available. According to my iPhone XR, an app is REQUIRED. There is no change with the latest iPhone version.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by Mele20.

Reply | Quote

Whether there is an app or not, and whether I can opt in (or out) or not, there is something related to “contact tracing” there when you install the latest iOS or Android update.

When I consider all of the ways that big tech (and everyone else) want to grab every bit of my personal data that they can get their hands on, and when I consider that the government can’t be trusted with my personal data, AND when I consider that there is little benefit to doing this sort of “contact tracing”, I choose not to install the latest iOS update. I had to install it on my work iPhone, because my employer directed me to do so; but I don’t have to install it on my wife’s or daughter’s iPhones, and so I will advise my wife and daughter to stay away from this update.

Sad, because there will surely be other things in this and future updates which will actually be beneficial; and by avoiding updates, I will miss out on the beneficial things.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

2 users thanked author for this post.

Declan, Fred

Reply | Quote

You are one of those ?

Some iPhone Users Are Refusing to Install iOS 13.7 Due to Irrational Fear of Contact Tracing

Busting Contact Tracing Myths
Time to bust some myths. Firstly, Express Notification is opt-in, so if you do get to choose whether Apple tracks, you are not. Bluetooth data is shared via anonymized identifiers, and these tokens are encrypted. There is no way anyone can extract your details by using the identifiers.

Reply | Quote