I trust this Covid19 tracking software...

A Former User

That Google and Apple are developing won't get anywhere near UT??

Keneda

What software are you talking about?

Anyway, tracking can be done by your mobile provider by antenna triangulation.

A Former User

@Keneda
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/04/apple-and-google-partner-on-covid-19-contact-tracing-technology/

A Former User

@Keneda
this goes much further than that. (and anyway, I turn my phone to flight mode when I go out)

Keneda

@3arn0wl said in I trust this Covid19 tracking software...:

@Keneda
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/04/apple-and-google-partner-on-covid-19-contact-tracing-technology/

I see here a bluetooth tracking based on app installed by user from apple/google stores.

Nothing that can, in it's actual form, come to uBports OS, and if no dev porting app to ubports an release it on openstore, nothing to worry.

BTW like you said, flight mode (or simply power off) is the answer to any kind of tracking.

Giiba

I suspect whatever is possible is hidden in the propriatory blobs all of the modems run on...

A Former User

@Giiba
So beyond the control of UBports, then.

Thanks for the resposes.

Giiba

I know very little, but I do know the modem is also in control of tje gps on most phones, and even the Pinephone doesn't have fully open modem code.

AppLee

@Giiba
Yes but the PinePhone's modem is isolated...

flohack

@Giiba Thats why it has kill switches...

domubpkm

@Flohack said in I trust this Covid19 tracking software...:

it has kill switches.

It's interesting.
Can you elaborate a little bit ? Thank you.

stanwood

@domubpkm Pinephone’s got kill switches that enable to mechanically stop some hardwares such as camera, Bluetooth, WiFi, Cellular Datas, etc... These switches are located beside (or under, not sure) the battery.

domubpkm

@stanwood yes

AppLee

@domubpkm
In fact there are 6 of them.

This is a picture I took of my BH. The label on the left describes what they are for.
Sorry for the blur macro is bad with the phone's camera.

domubpkm

@AppLee ok @trainailleur must be updated ?

A Former User

The mobile world is sorely in need of some truly open hardware.

trainailleur

@domubpkm Thanks for tagging me. I updated that post.

@AppLee Thanks for the photo. I had not noticed that. Due to other projects that came up, I've not had time to work with my BraveHeart yet.

Vartojas

I guess that the above mentioned app concerns only the Americas. In Europe there is a separate approach under way to program an contact tracing app: https://www.pepp-pt.org/ (=Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT))
Maybe it made sense if somebody contacts them about implementing this on ubuntu touch. (The contacts are on the site).

nogoogle

@Vartojas If someone from the community is interested in this for UBtouch, this may be another link worth visiting [https://github.com/ito-org](link url). This project has some privacy advantages over PEPP-PT in that contacts from a positive tested person are matched locally on the devices by pull notification (not on a central server as with PEPP-PT).

pparent

Just to make things clear it seems possible to build an app that would be usefull for contact tracing concerning covid-19 (or any other future epidemic), without being at all a threat for privacy. And it is quite simple, and we can imagine many methods. Here is a simple example of a method:

Suppose that 2 nearby device can exchange messages wireless probably with bluetooth, but we could also imagine wifi in theory. (We should check that mac addresse are not a privacy problem, they should be regularly changed randomly.)
Whenever a nearby contact is made, between 2 devices, both devices generate a random string (RS) and exchange it with the neighboor. Both record in their local memory the locally-generated RS, and the remote received RS, and the corresponding date (not the time), and nothing else. It's kept only locally not sent to anybody else.
RS that are too old (>14 or 21 days) are automatically erased.
If someone is detected positive, with his approval, all RS remotely received are published anonymously in a central server, to alert people.
Now the person who generated a RS corresponding to a contact with an infected person can know he was in contact with an infected person (simply by consulting the public server and checking if one of its own RS is there or not). But only him can know, nobody else. And no private data is disclosed!

I really do hope things are going to go towards something like this, and if so that we could have a compatible app for Ubports.