Apple, Google plan software to slow virus, joining global debate on tracking

[rooster59]

Apple, Google plan software to slow virus, joining global debate on tracking

By Stephen Nellis and Paresh Dave

 

FILE PHOTO: The Google logo is pictured at the entrance to the Google offices in London, Britain January 18, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

 

(Reuters) - Apple Inc <AAPL.O> and Alphabet Inc's <GOOGL.O> Google said on Friday that they will work together to create contact tracing technology that aims to slow the spread of the coronavirus by allowing users to opt into logging other phones they have been near.

 

The rare collaboration between the two Silicon Valley companies, whose operating systems power 99% of the world's smartphones, could accelerate usage of apps that aim to get potentially infected individuals into testing or quarantine more quickly and reliably than existing systems in much of the world. Such tracing will play a vital role in managing the virus once lockdown orders end, health experts say.

 

The planned technology also throws the weight of the tech leaders into a global conflict between privacy advocates who favor a decentralized system to trace contacts and governments in Europe and Asia pushing centralized approaches that have technical weaknesses and potentially let governments know with whom people associate.

 

"With Apple and Google, you get all the public health functions you need with a decentralized and privacy-friendly app," said Michael Veale, University College London legal lecturer involved in European contact tracing system DP3T.

Centralized solutions such as those proposed in Britain and France would "no longer work" under the new technology, he said.

 

To be effective, the Silicon Valley system would require millions of people to opt in the system, trusting the technology companies’ safeguards, as well as smooth oversight by public health systems.

 

The companies said they started developing the technology two weeks ago to streamline technical differences between Apple's iPhones and Google's Android that had stymied the interoperation of some existing contact tracing apps.

 

Under the plan, users' phones with the technology will emit unique Bluetooth signals. Phones within about six feet can record anonymous information about encounters.

 

People who test positive for the virus can opt to send an encrypted list of phones they came near to Apple and Google, which will trigger alerts to potentially exposed users to seek more information. Public health authorities would need to sign off that an individual has tested positive before they can send on the data.

 

The logs will be scrambled to keep infected individuals' data anonymous, even to Apple, Google and contact tracing app makers, the companies said. Apple and Google said their contact tracing system will not track GPS location.

 

"To their credit, Apple and Google have announced an approach that appears to mitigate the worst privacy and centralization risks," said Jennifer Granick, surveillance and cybersecurity counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.

 

Apple and Google plan to release software tools in mid-May to contact tracing apps that they and public health authorities approve. Apps including Private Kit and CoEpi, which had contacted Apple and Google for help a month ago, said the new tools would enable them to drop potentially unreliable workarounds.

 

Apps will be able to focus on developing a simple interface for users and healthcare workers, with Apple and Google handling Bluetooth and privacy issues, said Dana Lewis, a lead developer of contact tracing app CoEpi.

 

However, Apple and Google plan to release software updates in the coming months so that users do not need a separate app to log nearby phones.

 

Google said the tools and updates would not be available where its services are blocked, such as in China or on unofficial Android devices. Apple will distribute the technology as an update to its iPhone operating system.

 

A median of 76% of people in United States and other advanced economies have smartphones, according to a Pew Research Center study last year, compared with a median of 45% in emerging economies.

 

Governments worldwide have been scrambling to adopt software meant to improve the normally labor-intensive process of contact tracing, in which health officials go to recent contacts of an infected person and ask them to self-quarantine or get tested.

 

"It's very interesting, but a lot of people worry about it in terms of a person's freedom. We're going to take a look at that, a very strong look at that," U.S. President Donald Trump said at a press briefing when asked about Apple and Google's efforts.

 

Health experts have credited extensive testing and contact tracing with slowing the spread of the virus in nations such as South Korea, but limited testing has held back contact tracing in the United States.

 

For instance, New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene told Reuters on Friday that tracing will not be helpful until the virus is controlled, with apps potentially proving expedient when someone has crossed paths with many people.

 

"This isn't a substitute for testing - you need to know who has it - but it produces actionable results so people can act responsibly, self-isolate and reduce anxiety in the community as a whole," said Al Gidari, a Stanford University law school lecturer and previously long-time external counsel to Google.

 

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis and Paresh Dave in San Francisco and Douglas Busvine in Berlin; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Daniel Wallis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-10

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[timendres]

15 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

allowing users to opt into logging other phones they have been near

"Opt in", until governments make it mandatory.

[Tug]

Does smack of (big brother) or Orwell’s book that beeing said doesent it need more people tested to work properly?

[cornishcarlos]

14 minutes ago, Tug said:

Does smack of (big brother) or Orwell’s book that beeing said doesent it need more people tested to work properly?

 

I don't think it is about the virus.. They couldn't give a sheet if you are infected..

All they want is to know where you are and who you are with... That's it

 

Having it built into operating systems so it's automatically tracking unless you turn it off !! Don't believe them.

[donnacha]

This will never work. Apple devices don't get viruses.

 

[donnacha]

41 minutes ago, timendres said:

"Opt in", until governments make it mandatory.

I am absolutely certain that an app along these lines, constantly relaying your location, will become mandatory for any device with an Internet connection, anywhere in the world.

It will be sold to the public as contract tracing, "making sure we never go to the brink again", but, of course, the authorities in every country will have access. Will making law enforcement and the control of subversives much easier.

 

Edited April 10, 2020 by donnacha

[sweatalot]

more control of the people - less freedom

Looks like it is not a fight against the virus but more and more against the people

Edited April 10, 2020 by sweatalot

[digger70]

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Apple, Google plan software to slow virus, joining global debate on trackin

Why don't they worry about the viruses that are Demons on the Internet. Never mind all this New log in on Other Phones and such ,This Could  mean only More Trouble and More Privacy Intruders and in the end More control from Big Brother ,,,, He must be Stopped ,,,,,

[Krataiboy]

Are they sure this isn't a computer virus? Nearly everyone who gets it seems to have a PC, smartphone or tablet.

 

(No more batty -sorry! - than the official story).

[Cryingdick]

 

People will cry at first. Then there will be the info online about turning off bluetooth, cell data and location services to stop this from happening. After an hour of this the people that turned all this off on their phones will realize there phone can't do anything without these. The pivotal moment will come when people choose to turn it all back on so they can let their kid watch Pokemon in the car over personal freedoms.

 

Let's face it for their own safety these days most humans don't deserve and can't be allowed to be free. 

[samran]

24 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

Let's face it for their own safety these days most humans don't deserve and can't be allowed to be free.

Words written by wannabe despots. 

[Cryingdick]

2 minutes ago, samran said:

Words written by wannabe despots. 

 

Guess your sarcasm meter is broken. You seem to always be looking for a fight where there is none. 

Edited April 11, 2020 by Cryingdick

[samran]

13 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Guess your sarcasm meter is broken. You seem to always be looking for a fight where there is none. 

Americans as a rule don’t do sarcasm well. That’s probably why. 
 

No fight. Wasn’t directing that to you per se. The words just resonated particularly living here in Thailand. 

[Cryingdick]

26 minutes ago, samran said:

The words just resonated particularly living here in Thailand. 

 

It does seem to be the case that those living in Thailand in many ways have voluntarily waived their human rights. I left  around 3 years ago. That was around the time the general started interrupting TV constantly and everybody wore black. I couldn't even imagine living there now with how far down the rabbit hole Thailand has gone.

 

 

 So if the line I used rang true it is a pun on the line  ‘They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.’ Ben Franklin

 

In Thailand's case the word safety is likely to be of the financial variety. 

 

Anyway back to the main article. This system is the technology that is going to drive Apple's newest product yet to be officially announced. Airtags. Little tags you can put on your keys or wallet or backpack and locate it. This will work by using a mesh of all iPhone users that have been near the lost item. They will get no notification of where your things are but their phone is locating it for you via bluetooth. So it will already be baked into the software if other apps want to access the mesh. 

 

It will be up to the consumer if they choose to take advantage of that service or simply turn it off. If this scares anybody you shouldn't have a smartphone anyway. None of us know what our phone is tracking or doing on a daily basis.

 

Google is already pretty scary. They know where I am right now, where I was on this day every year for the last 5 years from photos, read your emails, know what your next flight is, know what Airbnb you will stay in, know every place you have been to for at least the past month. One time a long time ago I wondered to myself how does Google know the traffic conditions? It quickly dawned on me that they are tracking us all. Everyday the average person trades their privacy for convenience. 

 

At least in the USA the government pretends to be concerned. I would be much more vigilant about security for my data if I lived in China or some other country that has absolutely no qualms about how they handle these matters.