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@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.
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I suspect whatever is possible is hidden in the propriatory blobs all of the modems run on...
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@Giiba
So beyond the control of UBports, then.
Thanks for the resposes.
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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.
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@Giiba
Yes but the PinePhone's modem is isolated... -
@Giiba Thats why it has kill switches...
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@Flohack said in I trust this Covid19 tracking software...:
it has kill switches.
It's interesting.
Can you elaborate a little bit ? Thank you. -
@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.
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@stanwood yes
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@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. -
@AppLee ok @trainailleur must be updated ?
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The mobile world is sorely in need of some truly open hardware.
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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). -
@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).
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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:
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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.)
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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.
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RS that are too old (>14 or 21 days) are automatically erased.
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If someone is detected positive, with his approval, all RS remotely received are published anonymously in a central server, to alert people.
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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.
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Whaaaat... I switched to UBports to not get tracked by this big, profit and data hungry companies...
don't even think of a tracking app in any art and form. It will be used against you, it will be used to manipulate you, if they can they will, even if they say they wont.Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
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@magdesign I've actually switched to ubports from flip phones, I never used Android for privacy and freedom reasons. And I'm looking forward to getting rid of Android blobs, with pinephone and/or librem5.
But think of one thing: If you had a notebook in paper and every-time you approach someone you note his name in it, in case you have to warn people you where in contact with, in case you are sick. But none else than you have access to that notebook. Would you find this problematic?
The app I described, is basically that except that it is automatic, and more privacy-friendly, because I don't actually note the name of the person, but a random string that only the associated person knows it is associated to him.
And I guess privacy and freedom activists especially in the field of mobile phones, might have interest in being proactive and proposing solutions at the edge of privacy protection, rather than letting others propose solutions that are not so good for privacy.
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Check this chart: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/history-of-pandemics-deadliest/
I am getting a bit offtopic, but: don't you trust the natural selection (do you really trust in digital solutions for every daily problem)? We all have to die when the time comes...However, waiting for my Librem5 since months/years
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@magdesign
Yes yes I tend to agree that the we should not exaggerate gravity of covid-19. But this question of app is not only covid-19 but also any possible future epidemic. Imagine tomorrow we face a similar virus but it kills 50% of people infected, or worse 90%, would you really say we should not use such an app, even though it is harmless for privacy?Also it is always quite easy to say this kind of things about natural selection, when ourselves face a low probability of death (because we're young, that's my case, I guess it's yours), and others face a way higher probability. We might not say the same thing if we were facing death directly. And also it's not only a question of dying, but also dying in terrible conditions, if heath systems are overwhelmed. We have been habited not to face this anymore, these last decades.
And also do not forget that this app would not only save lives or give us security, but help us get back our freedoms, freedom to go out, and to meet people, while we are already confined.
