Dissection of COVIDSafe (Android): Australian government's contact tracing app

Post by temac » Sun, Apr 26, 2020, 9:51 PM UTC

def_true_false wrote: post #111

temac wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In Germany it quite literally took dozens of public interest groups, two weeks of media attention, EU guidance and an open letter by hundreds of scientists to make the government switch from central data collection to an acceptable decentralised approach. Interesting. Do you have any pointer on the current German approach? I've been looking at the Robert protocol from Inria+Fraunhofer, and I'm not sure I like the c…

I guess they meant the DP-3T. See https://github.com/DP-3T/documents

Post by addandsubtract » Sun, Apr 26, 2020, 9:54 PM UTC

tastroder wrote: post #2

It's interesting to see these tracing app discussions crop up all over the world at the moment. In Germany it quite literally took dozens of public interest groups, two weeks of media attention, EU guidance and an open letter by hundreds of scientists to make the government switch from central data collection to an acceptable decentralised approach. The amount of misinformation put out by lobby groups in the process…

Post by koyote » Sun, Apr 26, 2020, 9:59 PM UTC

Fargren wrote: post #108

godelski wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can choose to get the virus - but that’s a pretty silly choice IMHO. And if you do, please stay home and don’t give it to anyone else. I don't think this is unreasonable. Most people on HN are under 65 and thus will only get mild symptoms and likely just be out for a few days. Considering we're all probably working remotely, it is also easy to not infect others. Alternatively, a government overreach can last de…

> Most people on HN are under 65 and thus will only get mild symptoms and likely just be out for a few days. This is the most likely case for people how are not vulnerable, but by no means a sure thing. Plenty of people without preexisting conditions have died or had to be hospitalized for days or weeks. Data is a bit difficult to filter, but as an example 4.5% of deaths in NY are from the 18-44 age group[1]. Presuma…

Post by danieltillett » Sun, Apr 26, 2020, 10:06 PM UTC

mcannon wrote: post #35

I believe the government, PM and various ministers have said the code will be released. My sources also say exactly the same. They’re obviously operating with extreme urgency to get the app out. For you. Give them a few weeks to clean up code and release it (which is very normal) - but in the meantime, here are some tips: - Turn the HN angry mob mode off - it’s not helpful. We’re all in this together. - Commend the g…

Post by healsjnr1 » Sun, Apr 26, 2020, 10:15 PM UTC

mcannon wrote: post #42

bad_user wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can easily deny location data to games and people that are concerned about these apps will not share their location lightly. I have no app on my iPhone with the ability to use my location in the background, not even Waze or Google Maps. Also I don't care about deletion policies. That data should not be collected in the first place. I don't know about any specifics, but if the data isn't anonymized somehow, on the…

Did you know that on iOS it doesn’t even ask for location, and on Android that’s required for Bluetooth? The source code will show you what is done with that (as others who have decompiled it already have shown it doesn’t use the location anywhere). You can choose to get the virus - but that’s a pretty silly choice IMHO. And if you do, please stay home and don’t give it to anyone else.