from the proximity:-opposite-sides-of-the-same-wall dept.
Ross Anderson, a researcher at the Security Group at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory, has written about contact tracing in the real world enumerating in detail some of the many shortcomings with and false assumptions about contact tracing as means of fighting a pandemic.
There are also real systems being built by governments. Singapore has already deployed and open-sourced one that uses contact tracing based on bluetooth beacons. Most of the academic and tech industry proposals follow this strategy, as the “obvious” way to tell who’s been within a few metres of you and for how long. The UK’s National Health Service is working on one too, and I’m one of a group of people being consulted on the privacy and security.
But contact tracing in the real world is not quite as many of the academic and industry proposals assume.
First, it isn’t anonymous. Covid-19 is a notifiable disease so a doctor who diagnoses you must inform the public health authorities, and if they have the bandwidth they call you and ask who you’ve been in contact with. They then call your contacts in turn. It’s not about consent or anonymity, so much as being persuasive and having a good bedside manner.
He is not alone in pointing out that claims of being able to anonymize personal data have largely been proven to be bunk. The rules we set in place now will be with us for a long time and have far-reaching effects. The need to be given an appropriate level of consideration.
Security researcher Bruce Schneier posted his concerns on the same contract tracing story.
Previously:
(2020-04-11) Apple and Google are Launching a Joint COVID-19 Tracing Tool for IOS and Android
(2020-04-08) Senators Raise Privacy Questions About Google's COVID-19 Tracker
(2014-10-16) How Nigeria Stopped Ebola
Related Stories
Pamela Engel writes that Americans need only look to Nigeria to calm their fears about an Ebola outbreak in the US. Nigeria is much closer to the West Africa outbreak than the US is, yet even after Ebola entered the country in the most terrifying way possible — via a visibly sick passenger on a commercial flight — officials successfully shut down the disease and prevented widespread transmission. If there are still no new cases on October 20, the World Health Organization will officially declare the country "Ebola-free". Here's how Nigeria did it.
The first person to bring Ebola to Nigeria was Patrick Sawyer, who left a hospital in Liberia against the wishes of the medical staff and flew to Nigeria. Once Sawyer arrived, it became obvious that he was ill when he passed out in the Lagos airport, and he was taken to a hospital in the densely packed city of 20 million. Once the country's first Ebola case was confirmed, Port Health Services in Nigeria started a process called contact tracing to limit the spread of the disease and created an emergency operations center to coordinate and oversee the national response. Health officials used a variety of resources, including phone records and flight manifests, to track down nearly 900 people who might have been exposed to the virus via Sawyer or the people he infected. As soon as people developed symptoms suggestive of Ebola, they were isolated in Ebola treatment facilities. Without waiting to see whether a "suspected" case tested positive, Nigeria's contact tracing team tracked down everyone who had had contact with that patient since the onset of symptoms making a staggering 18,500 face-to-face visits.
The US has many of these same procedures in place for containing Ebola, making the risk of an outbreak here very low. Contact tracing is exactly what is happening in Dallas right now; if any one of Thomas Eric Duncan's contacts shows symptoms, that person will be immediately isolated and tested. “That experience shows us that even in the case in Nigeria, when we found out later in the timeline that this patient had Ebola, that Nigeria was able to identify contacts, institute strict infection control procedures and basically bring their outbreak to a close”, says Dr. Tom Inglesby. “They did a good job in and of themselves. They worked closely with the U.S. CDC. If we can succeed in Nigeria… I do believe we will stop it here.”
Senators raise privacy questions about Google's COVID-19 tracker:
Two US senators want to make sure Google's COVID-19 tracker isn't infringing on millions of people's privacy. In a letter sent to Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Tuesday, Sens. Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal raised questions about how the tech giant's tracker is ensuring that the location data it's collecting and presenting stays confidential.
The Trump administration has called on tech companies to provide data for tracking the coronavirus pandemic, hoping that logs of people's locations can give insight on social distancing and the disease's spread. Location data has been used in South Korea and China to help contain and track COVID-19 cases, and the US government is looking to do the same as it deals with the pandemic.
[...] Last Friday, Google announced its own COVID-19 tracker, using location data it's collected from its millions of users to help health officials make policy decisions and measure social distancing effects.
The data is collected from people who have their Location History setting activated on their phones, which is typically off by default. In its announcement, the tech giant said no personally identifiable information is collected for this tracker.
Still, Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, have their concerns with Google using a massive amount of location data for tracking the outbreak.
The two lawmakers raised points about how researchers have easily de-anonymized location data several times, since the datasets are often tied to frequently visited spots like homes, workplaces and places of worship.
"Location data sharing carries with it myriad risks, and while we commend Google's efforts to assist in combatting the coronavirus pandemic, we caution you against steps that risk undermining your users' privacy," the senators wrote in the letter.
Apple and Google are launching a joint COVID-19 tracing tool for iOS and Android
Apple and Google's engineering teams have banded together to create a decentralized contact tracing tool that will help individuals determine whether they have been exposed to someone with COVID-19.
Contact tracing is a useful tool that helps public health authorities track the spread of the disease and inform the potentially exposed so that they can get tested. It does this by identifying and 'following up with' people who have come into contact with a COVID-19 affected person.
The first phase of the project is an API that public health agencies can integrate into their own apps. The next phase is a system level contact tracing system that will work across iOS and Android devices on an opt-in basis.
The system uses on-board radios on your device to transmit an anonymous ID over short ranges — using Bluetooth beaconing. Servers relay your last 14 days of rotating IDs to other devices which search for a match. A match is determined based on a threshold of time spent and distance maintained between two devices.
If a match is found with another user that has told the system that they have tested positive, you are notified and can take steps to be tested and to self quarantine.
[...] you run into technical problems like Bluetooth power suck, privacy concerns about centralized data collection and the sheer effort it takes to get enough people to install the apps to be effective.
NHS rejects Apple-Google coronavirus app plan:
The UK's coronavirus contact-tracing app is set to use a different model to the one proposed by Apple and Google, despite concerns raised about privacy and performance.
The NHS says it has a way to make the software work "sufficiently well" on iPhones without users having to keep it active and on-screen.
That limitation has posed problems for similar apps in other countries.
[...] "Engineers have met several core challenges for the app to meet public health needs and support detection of contact events sufficiently well, including when the app is in the background, without excessively affecting battery life," said a spokeswoman for NHSX, the health service's digital innovation unit.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @06:04PM (4 children)
I've done that!! It works bestest when your between the sheets, and the lights are dimmed, or out. Trace those curves, all night long!!
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @06:12PM (2 children)
Unlikely.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @06:22PM (1 child)
Would you repeat that? The echoes in your mom's basement make it hard to understand you.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @06:39PM
Sorry, no visitors allowed in your padded cell.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @07:40PM
*_g_o_a_t_s_e_x_*_g_o_a_t_s_e_x_*_g_o_a_t_s_e_x_*_
g_______________________________________________g_ _
o_/_____\_____________\____________/____\_______o_ _
a|_______|_____________\__________|______|______a_ _
t|_______`._____________|_________|_______:_____t_ _
s`________|_____________|________\|_______|_____s_ _
e_\_______|_/_______/__\\\___--___\\_______:____e_ _
x__\______\/____--~~__________~--__|_\_____|____x_ _
*___\______\_-~____________________~-_\____|____*_ _
g____\______\_________.--------.______\|___|____g_ _
o______\_____\______//_________(_(__>__\___|____o_ _
a_______\___.__C____)_________(_(____>__|__/____a_ _
t_______/\_|___C_____)/______\_(_____>__|_/_____t_ _
s______/_/\|___C_____)_______|__(___>___/__\____s_ _
e_____|___(____C_____)\______/__//__/_/_____\___e_ _
x_____|____\__|_____\\_________//_(__/_______|__x_ _
*____|_\____\____)___`----___--'_____________|__*_ _
g____|__\______________\_______/____________/_|_g_ _
o___|______________/____|_____|__\____________|_o_ _
a___|_____________|____/_______\__\___________|_a_ _
t___|__________/_/____|_________|__\___________|t_ _
s___|_________/_/______\__/\___/____|__________|s_ _
e__|_________/_/________|____|_______|_________|e_ _
x__|__________|_________|____|_______|_________|x_ _
*_g_o_a_t_s_e_x_*_g_o_a_t_s_e_x_*_g_o_a_t_s_e_x_*_
(Score: 4, Interesting) by SomeGuy on Monday April 13 2020, @06:12PM (18 children)
Another false assumption is that everyone has or wants one of those stupid toy "smart" phones.
Are they going to make smart phone ownership and usage mandatory? (A billion consumertards and a few cell phone company CEOs jump for joy).
Who really wants this tracing app? The government, or Apple/Samsung?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday April 13 2020, @06:20PM (11 children)
Every actor involved with the data collection, or who has access to the data, will profit. So, who really wants this tracing? All of the above, and more. And, ranking right at the top would be law enforcement. Most cops seem to dream of serving a police state.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @07:25PM (10 children)
See subject: Your MASSIVE FAIL in this life is you're nothing more than a chattering little do-nothing "ne'er-do-well" online & you know it...
* Is that the best your "phantasyland FAKE NAME" (for your fake lie of a so-called 'life') can manage?
When a FAKE NAME do nothing like YOU does better than I have? Then talk (you're all talk & no action)...
You can't help you're an immature little BUTTHURT no-mind, lol! I blew you away in TONS OF PLACES and easily dust your no-mind bullshit blatherings.
APK Hosts File Engine [soylentnews.org] stops tracking & data collection but you WOULD KNOW THAT if you weren't a "ne'er-do-well" troll w/ no tech skills.
APK
P.S.=> The TRUE PRICE of your UNIDENTIFIABLE FAKE NAME do-nothing selves like you that I can ALWAYS CASH IN ON (lol) is that I can use FACT/TRUTH on them to SHATTER their all TOO fragile delusional egos that they actually know A DAMN THING in computing, lol... apk
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday April 13 2020, @07:34PM (9 children)
?????????????????????
Dafuq?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @07:42PM
You're witnessing an ongoing mental breakdown worse than any dementia you might have.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 14 2020, @05:12PM (7 children)
Runaway1956 barbara hudson's IMPERSONATING me, again, for my confronting "it" (she/him/heshe/shim, lol) for impersonating ME "apologizing to 'it'" (I say "it" because IT is a disgusting abomination tranny) when I never did (why would I? "it" is a fucking disgusting CREEP WEIRDO of the HIGHEST ORDER as a TRANNY) https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=37046&page=1&cid=982296#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] that was caught in the link in my ps below actually admitting to stalking/harassing me quoted doing so telling others to do so along with "it" and then it tried to take me on regarding hosts, pascal vs. C/C++ & "it' got its TRANNY ASS BEAT THE FUCK DOWN easily by 'yours truly'.
* I don't take that TRANZOID MONSTROSITY's bullshit.
APK
P.S.=> Barbara Hudson (really TOM HUDSON) is a well-known for DECADES online scumbag who "talks a good game" but WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN I showed how WEAK, STUPID & INCOMPETENT "it" REALLY is with facts vs. its bullshit https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=33430&page=1&cid=889582#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] since it likes playing BITCH GAMES like impersonating me & for what? MAKING "it" look STUPID (which IT is) for trying to "get the better of me" only for me to BEAT "it" DOWN easily... apk
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 14 2020, @07:04PM (6 children)
Fuck right off and get a life. If someone "impersonates" you, then maybe you should create an account. You know how that works, click on the "create account" icon, fill out the necessary form, supply either a real or a throwaway email account, wait for a confirmation email, confirm, and BOOM! you are you and no one can impersonate you.
As for he/she/it - fuck off again. I'll do my own denigrating of the Hudson character, and I don't need your help. I'm perfectly aware that Hudson is Tom Hudson, I was at Slashdot back when.
Run along now, and fight your own stupid battles. From my perspective, it's hard to tell which of you is the fruitier fruitcake. Your HOSTS file schtick would be a lot more helpful if you toned the crazy down some. A lot of people really don't know how useful the HOSTS can be, but they never will know if you scream at them like a fucking crazed banshee.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 14 2020, @08:33PM (5 children)
Why would I be a FAKENAME wannabe like you for? LOL, no thanks - like you said, I actually PRODUCE THINGS OF VALUE for others... do you? Not that I've seen but you're welcome to prove me wrong (did you write it yourself IF you have? Let's see it then, in fairness - doubt you have).
* Taking THAT "tone" w/ me? No, YOU FUCKOFF you FAKENAME fuckup weasel...
(Don't like that BITCH? Come over to my face & I'll put your TEETH & ADAM'S APPLE right thru your throat & THRU YOUR ASSHOLE, boy...)
APK
P.S.> Fakename fuck wasting your life on forums, lol - do nothing bitch... apk
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday April 15 2020, @02:07AM (4 children)
Don't use a fake name. Put your real name on your account, like Tom, or Michael David Crawford, or some other people here. Prove how manly you are.
And, I'm quaking in my boots about you punching my teeth into my adam's apple. But, you do what you gotta do, internet tuff guy.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2020, @03:33AM (2 children)
Just to insert some facts, APK does have a SoylentNews account [soylentnews.org]. Yes, that's actually him. Who knows why he can't be bothered to log into it. I believe SN allows for longer usernames than Slashdot, so he could probably register AlexanderPeterKowalski or something like that if he wanted. But the APK account is also his.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday April 15 2020, @03:50AM (1 child)
A Polack? No point in arguing with him then. Us Poles argue just for the fun of it. He's just another big dumb bastard.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2020, @02:40PM
Why don't you "practice what you preach" fakename & PROVE HOW "MANLY" YOU ARE? You don't because you're not manly @ all - especially considering that you fail a SIMPLE CHALLENGE I put to you (that's NOT so simple for someone like you that lives behind FAKE NAMES online, probably many, & YOU DO NOTHING as I said + which you now proved for me).
* :)
THE PRICE OF YOUR "Phantasyland FAKE NAME online" is that - nothing of value to your name since you OBVIOUSLY aren't CAPABLE of useful outputs. I am & you even SAID so, again, thanks... lol!
BIG difference is that between someone like YOU vs. myself...
THANKS for proving MY points - which ARE now for sure, BASED ON FACT (about you & yes, me (albeit in MY FAVOR, not yours)).
APK
P.S.=> I knew you would - so much for MY being 'stupid polack' (as you & other WEEZILS said in other posts about me in your "not manly @ all" hide behind a FAKENAME proving your fake wasted life doing nothing of value on YOUR end but you also stated that I actually DO - again, thanks)... apk
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2020, @02:35PM
Why don't you "practice what you preach" fakename & PROVE HOW "MANLY" YOU ARE? You don't because you're not manly @ all - especially considering that you fail a SIMPLE CHALLENGE I put to you (that's NOT so simple for someone like you that lives behind FAKE NAMES online, probably many, & YOU DO NOTHING as I said + which you now proved for me).
* :)
THANKS for proving MY points - which ARE now for sure, BASED ON FACT (about you & yes, me (albeit in MY FAVOR, not yours)).
APK
P.S.=> I knew you would - so much for MY being (as you said in other posts about me in your "not manly @ all" hide behind a FAKENAME proving your fake wasted life doing nothing of value on YOUR end but you also stated that I actually DO - again, thanks)... apk
(Score: 2, Interesting) by DannyB on Monday April 13 2020, @06:39PM (5 children)
Advertisers.
Not if they use some other type of permanent embedded tracking system, such as an RFID chip or other tech everyone is required to have. The problem with smartphones is that they are optional. They can be "accidentally" lost, stolen or eaten. Or run out of juice. Not so with an embedded chip.
Other advantages:
* government can track you
* advertisers can track you.
* stores can display the correct ads as you approach the store front -- even if you don't have a phone
* stores can ping your phone as you pass by to provide you helpful information that you deserve to know about their products
* it's less likely to be stolen
* your banking, health, job history and other personal info can be keyed off this single unique ID. Rev 13:16-18 [biblegateway.com]
* You'll be glad you did! Just to prove you don't believe in superstition. Rev 14:9-11 [biblegateway.com]
* It can be required as a condition if you wish to receive inactivated vaccines. Rev 16:2 [biblegateway.com]
(Disclaimer: I have not posted any anonymous messages about "don't take the mark". The only time I have posted anonymously was because doing so is what made the joke funny.)
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @08:36PM (1 child)
You linked to a child molestation site because, why exactly?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday April 14 2020, @03:15PM
Why did I link to that site? Because the topic is contact tracing. And that is a warning about the ultimate contact tracing. It would be amusing if the Trump Virus is what leads to this.
And it is two words: Mole Station.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Tuesday April 14 2020, @04:36AM (1 child)
Typical, we're talking about contact tracing and you have to bring a biblical Trump reference [biblegateway.com] into it.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday April 14 2020, @03:11PM
I brought it up because a global ID is the ultimate contact tracing.
It also has many apparent advantages, as I point out.
But just don't do it. Don't.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 14 2020, @06:00PM
Or, if the stores know you're approaching the storefront, they can lock your ass out.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday April 13 2020, @06:18PM (2 children)
We already have "online" contact tracing. The NSA knows even without the content of online messages, conversations and inappropriate images, that the meta-data alone is a gold mine for contact tracing in cyber space.
Imagine the temptation to create a real world counterpart of contact information.
Right now, people might spread unapproved ideas or illegal thoughts in real life instead of online. But with a real life contact tracing database, such wrong thinking could be tracked. Once you identify an individual who is a carrier, you can follow everyone they come into contact with in the future, but also the past.
An API could be made available to Santa since naughty and niceness can spread by contact. Not just social media.
Someone, anyone at all, who considers STDs their own personal vietnam might find such a contact database useful for avoiding the wrong contacts.
Can a real-world contact database be that far away? The temptation is just too grate.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday April 13 2020, @07:04PM
Two by two, hands of blue, did you talk to her?
Tracking COVID is an interesting potential use case for this kind of information, but... it explodes so very very quickly. My family has been 99% isolated for over 30 days now, but every other Friday night we are keeping up one therapy for one of our kids - coming into intentional contact with 4 other kids and 2 adults for a few hours. While doing that, my wife and I also intentionally contact one shop owner (who in turn directly contacts probably 100+ people a night), and we might come within 2 meters of another 25 people unintentionally for at least a few moments - not to mention that junkie that sneezed 50 meters upwind from us... As well behaved as we are, we become a potential vector among that group of ~30 people in just an hour, and those 30 people in all liklihood are potential vectors to many more people, so within 3 contact generations that take place in just a few hours we're up to 30 * 50 * 50 = 75,000 people.
The seven degrees of Kevin Bacon works because the 7th root of 7 billion is only ~26, and people "contact" 26 different people in the relative blink of an eye.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by driverless on Tuesday April 14 2020, @04:49AM
Law enforcement have also been able to do this for at least 25 years, there's a specific technical name for it which will turn up lots of info but I can't remember the exact term. Yeah, sounds like a [citation needed] but if someone can provide the appropriate term, it was big data before the term "big data" existed, you can Google it yourself.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @06:34PM
CIA/NSA/Google/Facebook/Visa/Mastercard/AT&T/Verizon/T-Mobile already have all the info.
The info is good enough for advertising/marketing/"war on" whatever, but not for stopping pandemic?
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @06:40PM (1 child)
From TFA:
Dare one even imagine what Soylents will do?
(Score: 2) by driverless on Tuesday April 14 2020, @04:52AM
As soon as I can figure out how to get my hands on three underage giraffes and a tub of swarfega, you'll find out.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @07:21PM (1 child)
Nobody's business that I am infected with a lethal, highly contagious disease! I value my privacy, and not having to inform sex partners. It's the Libertariantard "externalization" technique. You can just sue the people who infected you, say, like, (Ayn)Rand Paul, if you can identify them!!!! Ha, ha, ah-haa, choooo!
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Monday April 13 2020, @07:51PM
There's certainly a conversation to be had about how much tracking is acceptable, and for what purposes the data can be accessed.
But we can't have that conversation while major backers are flat out lying about how much privacy is being sacrificed (not to mention what steps are being taken to ensure the data isn't accessed for other purposes.)
(Score: 2) by DrkShadow on Monday April 13 2020, @07:26PM (8 children)
1. Your phone broadcasts a beacon. It changes every 30s to 30m, your individual choice, and is generated by a (long) pre-generated key. Like a generated OTP.
2. Other phones listen and record _all_ of the beacons that they see.
3. You're diagnosed. Your voluntarily surrender your private key.
4. The "authorities" upload all of your keys between time A and time B to an online database.
5. Users' phones search by 3 characters of a random subset of hashes seen, and get a list of any matching hashes that have been confirmed infected. (This list will be small)
6. If there is a _full_ match in any hash, then you have come into contact with someone who was infected.
Your anonymity ends if you have a confirmed contact _and_ you contact the authorities. You can instead opt to isolate for two weeks to alleviate the symptoms naturally. You could also (have another person) submit a list of hashes of your own, if you turn out to be infected, perhaps by QR code. (The trolling part.) Trolling would be difficult -- if tens of thousands of hash submissions come from a single IP, then ignore them; if they come from multiple IPs, then it's harder. You could require private-key submission with a list of matching hashes, would would prevent much trolling, but perhaps private keys could be iterated through (use a 64-bit random number as an IV?)
Your location is not traceable, not even by group-speak. You're never revealing exactly what hashes you've been in contact with. There will be many hash matches, and the vast majority of them are meaningless.
---
By the numbers exampled above, I would estimate that you would get about three hash-matches for every search the app performed, given a 64-bit hash. Check the full three hashes against your list, twice a day, and you know if you've been exposed.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Monday April 13 2020, @08:39PM
5) would be a problem - if you only search for a subset of hashes you have encountered, then you'll only be alerted to confirmed infections within that subset. You have to search for *every* hash you've encountered to be able to tell if any of them are confirmed infected. And you don't want to wait until the random sampling eventually covers the full list, since you're likely to be contagious relatively soon after being exposed.
I'm also not clear on what hashes are supposed to add to the procedure rather than just using the original beacon IDs.
If you're looking at preserving the privacy of the masses, it would seem the natural thing to do would just download a comprehensive list of every infected beacon released in the last day and compare against your own contact history. The initial download of everyone confirmed infected in the last few weeks might take a little while, but once you're only looking at new contacts - assuming a new beacon every 5 minutes, and 64 bits per beacon, 1000 new cases would only be a 2.3MB download, uncompressed (and you could probably get some really awesome compression since the beacon order doesn't matter - even just sorting the data first makes it far more amenable to compression).
Of course if things get bad and you're looking at 100,000 new cases in a day, it gets a little sluggish. But if everyone is doing it, caching can reduce infrastructure requirements dramatically. You could also dramatically reduce the data load with only minor loss in privacy by encoding regional data in the beacons - e.g. dedicate 12 bits to indicate which of the 3000+ U.S. counties(or equivalents) you're currently in, so that people only need to download the infected beacon list for the counties they've actually been in recently.
(Score: 2, Informative) by barbara hudson on Monday April 13 2020, @09:47PM (6 children)
In a household have only one person as the "designated survivor " - going out to take care of walking the dogs, shopping, etc, and as long as they take all the precautions all should be good. Bonus points because all the hand washing means nobody is getting a cold any more.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @10:07PM (4 children)
I "apologized" to you TRANNY twisto https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?cid=937346&sid=35327 [soylentnews.org] ? FUCK NO, not ever: That's NOT me but I DESTROYED YOU PUBLICLY on every level including proving you barb stalk me on THIS SITE https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=33430&page=1&cid=889582#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] with more proof QUOTED FROM YOU DIRECTLY barbara (tom) hudson proving are a technical incompetent brain-damaged transsexual fool BULLSHIT ARTIST FUCKUP worthless creep that also failed on tech vs. me.
My post LITERALLY also shows links to stopping hundreds of threats of MANY KINDS via hosts (since 99% of malicious threats online use hostnames - block them as I do in hosts (less overhead vs. ANYTHING else by FAR & pure kernelmode TCP/IP stack efficient no less)? Can't TOUCH you nor you it. That's ONLY a 1 year only as a sample and I'd done TONS MORE many hundreds more at slashdot before that and yes 99% use hostnames so hosts work against them harming you).
So much for your usual lies barb and useless online troll chatterbox you has never done better work and I fairly challenged you to show you did. You have not.
NOW: You RESORTING TO IMPERSONATING ME on your end only PROVES I really got to you barb/tom hudson tranny.
So much so you are reduced to showing us your true scum bag self in fact. Thought YOU were going to SUE me? LMAO for what? FACTS ABOUT YOU??? LOL!
* YOU WILL ALWAYS FAIL vs. me just as you FAILED @ being a MAN & since you couldn't GET ANY PUSSY you (lmao) DECIDED in your DRUG ADDLED BRAIN to SLICE OFF YOUR COCK & build your OWN pussy (only way you'd "get some", ever).... OMG!
Only thing that "looks like SHIT" is you you FUCKED UP abomination of desolation freak.
APK
P.S.=> Hey FREAK? I'm going to PUBLICLY EMBARRASS YOUR ASS SO BAD on this site you will have to SLINK AROUND IN SHAME publicly but then, "your kind" (massive MASSIVE total losers in life) are USED to that, aren't you? You don't LIKE IT but I LOVE doing it, exposing you as the TRASH you are fucker... apk
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @10:13PM (3 children)
So you have multiple personality disorder now. Congrats, you're more mentally ill than the average tranny.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @10:37PM (2 children)
barbara hudson I strongly suggest you give up or leave this site after APK annihilated you here on every possible level there is to expose you as the twisted abnormal lying error prone fake it you are skilled scum you are https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=33430&page=1&cid=889582#commentwrap [soylentnews.org]
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @10:46PM (1 child)
Notice barbara hudson (tranny tom) won't go on its usual tons of posts suddenly? I do. "IT" has been silenced by fact in huge errors it made that it provided no less https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=33430&page=1&cid=889582#commentwrap [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @11:06PM
Seek professional help, APK.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @11:03PM
I "apologized" to you TRANNY twisto https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?cid=937346&sid=35327 [soylentnews.org] ? FUCK NO, not ever: That's NOT me but I DESTROYED YOU PUBLICLY on every level including proving you barb stalk me on THIS SITE https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=33430&page=1&cid=889582#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] with more proof QUOTED FROM YOU DIRECTLY barbara (tom) hudson proving are a technical incompetent brain-damaged transsexual fool BULLSHIT ARTIST FUCKUP worthless creep that also failed on tech vs. me.
My post LITERALLY also shows links to stopping hundreds of threats of MANY KINDS via hosts (since 99% of malicious threats online use hostnames - block them as I do in hosts (less overhead vs. ANYTHING else by FAR & pure kernelmode TCP/IP stack efficient no less)? Can't TOUCH you nor you it. That's ONLY a 1 year only as a sample and I'd done TONS MORE many hundreds more at slashdot before that and yes 99% use hostnames so hosts work against them harming you).
So much for your usual lies barb and useless online troll chatterbox you has never done better work and I fairly challenged you to show you did. You have not.
NOW: You RESORTING TO IMPERSONATING ME on your end only PROVES I really got to you barb/tom hudson tranny.
So much so you are reduced to showing us your true scum bag self in fact. Thought YOU were going to SUE me? LMAO for what? FACTS ABOUT YOU??? LOL!
* YOU WILL ALWAYS FAIL vs. me just as you FAILED @ being a MAN & since you couldn't GET ANY PUSSY you (lmao) DECIDED in your DRUG ADDLED BRAIN to SLICE OFF YOUR COCK & build your OWN pussy (only way you'd "get some", ever).... OMG!
Only thing that "looks like SHIT" is you you FUCKED UP abomination of desolation freak.
TO THE MORON technically WEAK whimp THAT OWNS THIS SITE: Do you REALLY *THINK* (beyond your abilities MORON vs. me) YOU CAN "HOLD ME OUT/DOWN"?
You've tried to for DAYS just as /. did ONLY TO HAVE ME FUCKING SHOW EVERYONE YOU ARE A POWERLESS FUCK vs. me (& believe me - IF I wanted to? I could DROP THIS SITE OFFLINE in minutes, but it is MORE FUN to expose YOU & this shitbag LYING scum TRANZOID barbara hudson, publicly - QUESTION: HOW DO SHITBAGS like you ALL live with yourselves?)
APK
P.S.=> Hey FREAK? I'm going to PUBLICLY EMBARRASS YOUR ASS SO BAD on this site you will have to SLINK AROUND IN SHAME publicly but then, "your kind" (massive MASSIVE total losers in life) are USED to that, aren't you? You don't LIKE IT but I LOVE doing it, exposing you as the TRASH you are fucker... apk
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @08:09PM (4 children)
I go to the store and everyone at the store has been in 'contact' or close proximity with me.
I touch or cough or sneeze on a surface and leave the store and an hour later anyone at the store can come into contact with that surface and contract the infection.
Are they going to trace everywhere I have been and everyone that has encountered me and everything I touched and everyone that everyone that has encountered me has been and everything they have touched?
Contract tracing is better than nothing but it's not foolproof. It has its limitations. In combination with other protective measures (ie: perhaps wearing a mask while in public, stores ensuring they regularly clean items, minimizing the extent that everyone touches items they don't need at the grocery store and perhaps having tongs available to grab fruits and vegetables with and cleaning those regularly as well. Making sure staff washes hands after using the bathroom. I know that sounds obvious but it needs to be said because apparently some staff don't care) could help reduce (though perhaps not completely eliminate) the spread of infections.
TLDR: Contact tracing is good but not perfect.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Monday April 13 2020, @09:28PM (3 children)
You must live in the boonies. Here you don't get into the store without a mask and you get a hoop of hand sanitizer on entry. Don't like it - leave.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @10:09PM
I "apologized" to you TRANNY twisto https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?cid=937346&sid=35327 [soylentnews.org] ? FUCK NO, not ever: That's NOT me but I DESTROYED YOU PUBLICLY on every level including proving you barb stalk me on THIS SITE https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=33430&page=1&cid=889582#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] with more proof QUOTED FROM YOU DIRECTLY barbara (tom) hudson proving are a technical incompetent brain-damaged transsexual fool BULLSHIT ARTIST FUCKUP worthless creep that also failed on tech vs. me.
My post LITERALLY also shows links to stopping hundreds of threats of MANY KINDS via hosts (since 99% of malicious threats online use hostnames - block them as I do in hosts (less overhead vs. ANYTHING else by FAR & pure kernelmode TCP/IP stack efficient no less)? Can't TOUCH you nor you it. That's ONLY a 1 year only as a sample and I'd done TONS MORE many hundreds more at slashdot before that and yes 99% use hostnames so hosts work against them harming you).
So much for your usual lies barb and useless online troll chatterbox you has never done better work and I fairly challenged you to show you did. You have not.
NOW: You RESORTING TO IMPERSONATING ME on your end only PROVES I really got to you barb/tom hudson tranny.
So much so you are reduced to showing us your true scum bag self in fact. Thought YOU were going to SUE me? LMAO for what? FACTS ABOUT YOU??? LOL!
* YOU WILL ALWAYS FAIL vs. me just as you FAILED @ being a MAN & since you couldn't GET ANY PUSSY you (lmao) DECIDED in your DRUG ADDLED BRAIN to SLICE OFF YOUR COCK & build your OWN pussy (only way you'd "get some", ever).... OMG!
Only thing that "looks like SHIT" is you you FUCKED UP abomination of desolation freak.
APK
P.S.=> Hey FREAK? I'm going to PUBLICLY EMBARRASS YOUR ASS SO BAD on this site you will have to SLINK AROUND IN SHAME publicly but then, "your kind" (massive MASSIVE total losers in life) are USED to that, aren't you? You don't LIKE IT but I LOVE doing it, exposing you as the TRASH you are fucker... apk
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @10:53PM
See subject: All the downmods vs. these facts, lol - I "apologized" to you TRANNY twisto https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?cid=937346&sid=35327 [soylentnews.org] ? FUCK NO, not ever: That's NOT me but I DESTROYED YOU PUBLICLY on every level including proving you barb stalk me on THIS SITE https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=33430&page=1&cid=889582#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] with more proof QUOTED FROM YOU DIRECTLY barbara (tom) hudson proving are a technical incompetent brain-damaged transsexual fool BULLSHIT ARTIST FUCKUP worthless creep that also failed on tech vs. me.
My post LITERALLY also shows links to stopping hundreds of threats of MANY KINDS via hosts (since 99% of malicious threats online use hostnames - block them as I do in hosts (less overhead vs. ANYTHING else by FAR & pure kernelmode TCP/IP stack efficient no less)? Can't TOUCH you nor you it. That's ONLY a 1 year only as a sample and I'd done TONS MORE many hundreds more at slashdot before that and yes 99% use hostnames so hosts work against them harming you).
So much for your usual lies barb and useless online troll chatterbox you has never done better work and I fairly challenged you to show you did. You have not.
NOW: You RESORTING TO IMPERSONATING ME on your end only PROVES I really got to you barb/tom hudson tranny.
So much so you are reduced to showing us your true scum bag self in fact. Thought YOU were going to SUE me? LMAO for what? FACTS ABOUT YOU??? LOL!
* YOU WILL ALWAYS FAIL vs. me just as you FAILED @ being a MAN & since you couldn't GET ANY PUSSY you (lmao) DECIDED in your DRUG ADDLED BRAIN to SLICE OFF YOUR COCK & build your OWN pussy (only way you'd "get some", ever).... OMG!
Only thing that "looks like SHIT" is you you FUCKED UP abomination of desolation freak.
IDIOT THAT OWNS THIS SITE: Do you REALLY *THINK* (beyond your abilities MORON vs. me) YOU CAN "HOLD ME OUT/DOWN"? You've tried to for DAYS just as /. did ONLY TO HAVE ME FUCKING SHOW EVERYONE YOU ARE A POWERLESS FUCK vs. me (& believe me - IF I wanted to? I could DROP THIS SITE OFFLINE in minutes, but it is MORE FUN to expose YOU & this shitbag LYING scum TRANZOID barbara hudson, publicly - QUESTION: HOW DO SHITBAGS like you ALL live with yourselves?)
APK
P.S.=> Hey FREAK? I'm going to PUBLICLY EMBARRASS YOUR ASS SO BAD on this site you will have to SLINK AROUND IN SHAME publicly but then, "your kind" (massive MASSIVE total losers in life) are USED to that, aren't you? You don't LIKE IT but I LOVE doing it, exposing you as the TRASH you are fucker... apk
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 14 2020, @12:35AM
I live in California. Yeah, right now, they're starting to require a mask though I haven't really seen hand sanitizer on entry yet.
My point is that contact tracing, alone, is probably not enough. It helps but needs to be complemented with other measures (such as the other measures that are being implemented like the ones you mention).
(Score: 4, Insightful) by crafoo on Monday April 13 2020, @08:42PM (3 children)
I heard someone on cable media call the re-opening of our country as, "America 2.0" with a completely straight face.
Look, we all know the time to have a conversation about sweeping policy changes and freedom-stripping technology is when everyone is scared and/or angry. This is that time people! Let's get this done.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2020, @09:34PM
"America 2.0" may be possible if we actually sort out medical care from this episode.
But we won't. So no, 2.0 is fantasy bullshit. American Century is done for.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Monday April 13 2020, @11:46PM (1 child)
It will be "America 2.0" - as shitty for most of the population as the surveillance economy of "Web 3.0" is.
But it's wishful thinking on their part. Economic depressions make the old ways untenable, as people say "I want a fair shake" - and we're heading into a world-wide depression. 80% of the economy is driven by consumer demand, and the consumer has just had the guts ripped out of them, and are learning a very hard lesson about disease.
Doesn't matter how many stimulus cheques you send out, nobody is going to be booking an inner cabin on those floating petri dishes that used to be called cruise ships. And now that working from home is the new normal for many, forget about renting crowded space at WeWork to avoid the stigma of working from home.
All those people who have lost their jobs - they're not going to be ordering from DoorDash or UberEats or SkipTheDishes on a regular basis - not when they haven't got the money to do so. They'll do like previous generations - shop for food they can get multiple meals out of. Don't be surprised if their health improves from not eating as much manufactured food.
If the drop in demand results in enough permanent job losses, we may see a return to the single-income family as the norm. That will result in a huge drop in demand for everything from second cars to restaurant meals to degrees in fields that have no intrinsic usefulness (because it's not just Trump University pushing useless papers).
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 14 2020, @12:04AM
See subject & a NICE DOSE of PUBLIC HUMILIATION for your own local FREAK barbara hudson folks: I "apologized" to you TRANNY twisto https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?cid=937346&sid=35327 [soylentnews.org] ? FUCK NO, not ever: That's NOT me but I DESTROYED YOU PUBLICLY on every level including proving you barb stalk me on THIS SITE https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=33430&page=1&cid=889582#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] with more proof QUOTED FROM YOU DIRECTLY barbara (tom) hudson proving are a technical incompetent brain-damaged transsexual fool BULLSHIT ARTIST FUCKUP worthless creep that also failed on tech vs. me.
My post LITERALLY also shows links to stopping hundreds of threats of MANY KINDS via hosts (since 99% of malicious threats online use hostnames - block them as I do in hosts (less overhead vs. ANYTHING else by FAR & pure kernelmode TCP/IP stack efficient no less)? Can't TOUCH you nor you it. That's ONLY a 1 year only as a sample and I'd done TONS MORE many hundreds more at slashdot before that and yes 99% use hostnames so hosts work against them harming you).
So much for your usual lies barb and useless online troll chatterbox you has never done better work and I fairly challenged you to show you did. You have not.
NOW: You RESORTING TO IMPERSONATING ME on your end only PROVES I really got to you barb/tom hudson tranny.
So much so you are reduced to showing us your true scum bag self in fact. Thought YOU were going to SUE me? LMAO for what? FACTS ABOUT YOU??? LOL!
* YOU WILL ALWAYS FAIL vs. me just as you FAILED @ being a MAN & since you couldn't GET ANY PUSSY you (lmao) DECIDED in your DRUG ADDLED BRAIN to SLICE OFF YOUR COCK & build your OWN pussy (only way you'd "get some", ever).... OMG!
Only thing that "looks like SHIT" is you you FUCKED UP abomination of desolation freak.
TO THE MORON technically WEAK whimp THAT OWNS THIS SITE: Do you REALLY *THINK* (beyond your abilities MORON vs. me) YOU CAN "HOLD ME OUT/DOWN"?
You've tried to for DAYS just as /. did ONLY TO HAVE ME FUCKING SHOW EVERYONE YOU ARE A POWERLESS FUCK vs. me (& believe me - IF I wanted to? I could DROP THIS SITE OFFLINE in minutes, but it is MORE FUN to expose YOU & this shitbag LYING scum TRANZOID barbara hudson, publicly - QUESTION: HOW DO SHITBAGS like you ALL live with yourselves?)
I am IMPOSING MY WILL on you fucker - enjoy.
APK
P.S.=> Hey FREAK? I'm going to PUBLICLY EMBARRASS YOUR ASS SO BAD on this site you will have to SLINK AROUND IN SHAME publicly but then, "your kind" (massive MASSIVE total losers in life) are USED to that, aren't you? You don't LIKE IT but I LOVE doing it, exposing you as the TRASH you are fucker... apk
(Score: 2) by looorg on Monday April 13 2020, @09:54PM
Isn't it kind obvious that it's not anonymous? Why would you want anonymous tracing if you are trying to pin down sick people or watching the spread of some kind of new plague (or anything for that matter)?
"Look at that data-point, it sure looks infected ... and it's touching all the other data-points!"
That said one wouldn't want any of these project then once we are over and done with the current plague to happily skip down the path and be used for other things. I figure that is the real risk and I would assume Ross Anderson does the same, at least that is what I learned from reading a few of his books.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 14 2020, @02:44AM
NHS coronavirus app: memo discussed giving ministers power to 'de-anonymise' users [theguardian.com]
A draft government memo explaining how the NHS contact-tracing app could stem the spread of the coronavirus said ministers might be given the ability to order “de-anonymisation” to identify people from their smartphones, the Guardian can reveal.