COVID-19 Could Provide Cover for Surveillance Expansion

roger_m · Apr 15, 2020

I won't be downloading any tracking app.

Krusty · Apr 15, 2020

Me either.

hawki · Apr 16, 2020

"India Virus-Track App Gets 50 Million Users Amid Privacy Concerns

An app launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to track and contain the spread of the coronavirus is the fastest ever to reach 50 million users, while being dogged by privacy concerns..."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...rganic&utm_content=business&utm_medium=social

Krusty · Apr 16, 2020

Who can access our data? Does digital contact tracing even work? Five questions about the government's new coronavirus app

The Federal Government will soon introduce a contact tracing app, which aims to identify who someone diagnosed with COVID-19 may have come into close contact with in case they need to be tested or quarantined.

But so far, the plan is a little light on detail.

The smartphone app will be modelled closely on one similar to that used by the Singaporean Government, according to a spokesperson for Government Services Minister Stuart Robert.

"This new tracing app will be voluntary and will digitise the current contact tracing process that already occurs when an individual tests positive to coronavirus," he said.

"This app will ensure health authorities can get the full picture and not rely solely on the memory of an infected person."

For the initiative to work most of us will need to use the app; it's estimated that at least 40 per cent of the population will need to adopt the technology for it to succeed.

But before hitting download, we still need to know much more about how the app works and what happens to the data it collects.
Click to expand...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science...ents-coronavirus-contact-tracing-app/12151264

Krusty · Apr 17, 2020

Deputy Chief Medical Officer doesn't rule out forcing Australians to download the Government's coronavirus tracing app

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has not ruled out making the Government's coronavirus tracing app compulsory for all Australians.

The app will use data from people's phones to tell health authorities who has been in close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case, and who may need to be tested.

The Government has said 40 per cent of Australians would need to sign up to the app for it to have enough data to function properly.

When asked if the panel of health experts advising the Government was considering recommending the app be compulsory if less than 40 per cent of people signed up, Professor Kelly said making it voluntary at first was "the way to go".

"I've always been a believer in the Australian people making the right decision," he said.

"As I've said, this is an add-on to what we have in terms of contact tracing and case finding, so I think we need to make the case for an app.

"I think we start with voluntary and see how that goes."
Click to expand...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-17/paul-kelly-coronavirus-tracing-app/12158854

guest · Apr 17, 2020

Apple, Google weigh location tracking rules as EU seeks privacy-based virus apps
April 16, 2020
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-seeks-privacy-based-virus-apps-idUSKCN21Y1HL

Apps to help contain the spread of the novel coronavirus should not collect user location data, the European Commission said on Thursday, as Apple Inc and Google weighed whether to work with virus apps that use location tracking.

The EU executive’s recommendation came as part of a unified European approach for using technology to combat COVID-19 and after several EU countries rolled out a variety of apps, prompting criticism from data privacy activists.
Doctors want to be able to identify recent encounters of people diagnosed with the virus to quarantine those potentially infected contacts, and a major question is how to do so while respecting privacy rights.

To date, 28 countries around the world have launched contact tracing apps, including 11 European countries, while another 11 are developing apps based on GPS or Bluetooth data, according to an analysis by law firm Linklaters.

“Location data is not necessary nor recommended for the purpose of contact tracing apps, as their goal is not to follow the movements of individuals or to enforce prescriptions,” the Commission document said, citing security and privacy risks.
Click to expand...

guest · Apr 17, 2020

European Coronavirus App Platform Gains Traction With Governments
April 17, 2020
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/04/17/technology/17reuters-health-coronavirus-europe-tech.html

A European technology platform to support smartphone apps that can help trace people at risk of infection by the new coronavirus is gaining support from governments, one of its prime movers said on Friday.

Seven countries have either formally supported the Pan-European Privacy Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT https://www.pepp-pt.org) initiative or tasked one of its members with developing a national app, German tech entrepreneur Chris Boos told Reuters.
PEPP-PT has emerged as a leading proponent of the use of Bluetooth short-range communications between personal devices as a proxy for measuring the risk that a person infected with coronavirus can pass it on.

He listed Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Malta, Spain and Switzerland, adding that another 40 countries had registered and were in the process of being brought onboard.
Click to expand...

A schism has however opened up among technologists around issues of data privacy, with some favouring decentralized approaches that do not host sensitive data on a main server over more centralized systems.

PEPP-PT has faced criticism from supporters of a decentralized protocol called DP-3T https://github.com/DP-3T/documents/blob/master/DP3T%20White%20Paper.pdf, with early backer Marcel Salathe of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne publicly dissociating himself from it on Friday.
Boos said DP-3T still had a role to play. He also responded to criticism that PEPP-PT was too secretive, promising to publish its documentation for public review on Friday.
Click to expand...

guest · Apr 17, 2020

ACLU wants COVID-19 tracking program loaded with privacy safeguards
April 17, 2020
https://www.cultofmac.com/703111/aclu-contact-tracing/

The American Civil Liberties Union said Friday it is cautiously encouraged by a commitment to privacy by Apple and Google as they develop Bluetooth-based contact-tracing technology to track the spread of COVID-19.
But the civil liberties group says the two tech giants must resolve “certain important privacy-related questions” key to winning trust from a public growing wary about who sees their data.

Jennifer Stisa Granick, the ACLU’s surveillance and cybersecurity counsel, said the system will not be effective unless it is widespread, free and stores data on a person’s device rather than “a centralized repository.”
Privacy by design a must
In a news conference today, the ACLU outlined six “technology principles” that would prevent overreach or abuse. Cult of Mac was provided an advance copy of a white paper that outlines the principles written by Stisa Granick.
Click to expand...

ACLU: Apple and Google Announced a Coronavirus Tracking System. How Worried Should We Be?

Krusty · Apr 17, 2020

Coronavirus: Government says mobile tracking app won’t be mandatory after all

The government has scrapped plans to force Australians to download a tracking app onto their mobile phones to trace coronavirus in the community.

The Prime Minister has conceded the government won’t force Australians to download tracking software after it was viewed by many as a draconian measure to trace coronavirus cases in the community.

On Friday, Scott Morrison said he wanted to make the app compulsory if enough people didn’t sign up for it because at least 40 per cent of the population needs to be on board to make it effective.

But in a tweet this morning, he confirmed it “will not be mandatory”.

“We will be seeking the co-operation and support of Australians to download the app to help our health workers, to protect our community and help get our economy going again,” Mr Morrison tweeted.

Mr Morrison had spruiked the need to make the app compulsory in an interview on Triple M yesterday, likening the use of tracing software to national service.

“I know this would be something they might not normally do at an ordinary time but this is not an ordinary time,” he said.

“If you download this app you’ll be helping save someone’s life.”
Click to expand...

https://www.news.com.au/technology/...y/news-story/f2cacdf3ef3dbc844664ae9f648620cf

We'll see.

guest · Apr 18, 2020

Coronavirus contact tracing apps are worse than useless – Schneier
Cryptographer Bruce Schneier says the false positives and negatives ‘are too great’
April 17, 2020
https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/coronavirus-contact-tracing-apps-are-worse-than-useless-schneier

Influential security technologist Bruce Schneier has dismissed Covid-19 contact tracing apps as potentially “worse than having no system at all”, arguing that comprehensive diagnostic testing would combat the pandemic more effectively.
False alarm peril
Schneier, however, has argued that contact tracing isn’t effective because “the false positives are too great. And the false negatives are too great”.

“Contact tracing uses Bluetooth or GPS and then Bluetooth to try to get within six feet. We know that the error rates of that are surprisingly high,” Schneier said during a BlackHat webcast on Thursday (April 16).
False positives could arise, for example, when someone was “within two feet of someone who has Covid-19 for eight hours”, but there was a wall between them because they were in adjacent hotel rooms.
False negatives can arise when a contact isn't registered because people happen not to be carrying their smartphones.
Click to expand...

Real-world concerns
An essay on ‘Contact Tracing in the Real World’ by Cambridge University’s Ross Anderson lists a litany of stumbling blocks for the technology, including false positives and low voluntary uptake.

“The real killer is likely to be the interaction between privacy and economics. If the app’s voluntary, nobody has an incentive to use it, except tinkerers and people who religiously comply with whatever the government asks. If uptake remains at 10-15%, as in Singapore, it won’t be much use and we’ll need to hire more contact tracers instead.”
Surveillance creep
During a question and answer session, Schneier warned that measures put in place by governments to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic could outstay their welcome.
“I worry that some of these surveillance measures that are being hastily put into for Covid-19 are going to remain there,” Schneier said.
Click to expand...

When there’s a crisis, it “makes sense that we do things that we wouldn’t do normally but we have to make sure that they are effective. They’re proportionate, they have transparency, and that we can undo them when the crisis is over.
“I think we’re failing at all of those steps. I worry the most about not being able to undo them [increased surveillance measures],” Schneier concluded.
Click to expand...

hawki · Apr 18, 2020

"Coronavirus tracking apps meet resistance in privacy-conscious Europe

BRUSSELS — European leaders anxious to reopen their societies are counting on mobile phone tracking technology to help keep the novel coronavirus in check, but they face a formidable obstacle: convincing their privacy-conscious citizens to use the tools...

...In Europe — especially in Germany and Austria, where memories of authoritarian government excesses from the last century linger — many people have little desire to adopt the voluntary technology their governments have begun to promote. The result may be a setback for the efforts of public health officials, who say a majority of a society needs to use the trackers for them to be most effective..."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...def99e-7e53-11ea-84c2-0792d8591911_story.html

dogbite · Apr 19, 2020

There are some interesting considerations of Moxie (developer of Signal) on Google/Apple joint effort, he posted on his twitter.

Krusty · Apr 20, 2020

Government insists coronavirus tracing app will not track people's locations, says data will be stored on phones

Community privacy concerns have forced the Federal Government to insist a coronavirus tracing app will neither track people's locations nor be available for law enforcement agencies to access.

Government Services Minister Stuart Robert said the soon-to-be-released app would be voluntary but conceded its effectiveness would be enhanced if the bulk of the population downloaded it.

He sought to play down concerns the app would track people's location and get them into trouble if they failed to adhere to physical-distancing restrictions.

"All it will tell me is that you and I were in, for 15 minutes or more, 1.5 metres in proximity to each other," he said.

"[It] won't tell us where, because that's irrelevant, or what you're doing.

"We don't care where you are or what you're doing."
Click to expand...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04...rus-tracing-app-wont-track-locations/12163756

Krusty · Apr 20, 2020

Here's what you need to know about Australia's coronavirus tracking app

The Federal Government is planning to release a new app to help it track and trace coronavirus.

[...]
What happens to my data once this is all over?

The details of how that storage centre will work, such as the length of time data will be stored there, are still being determined.

The Government is producing a privacy impact assessment, which will also be released publicly when it is completed.

Australian Information Commissioner, Angelene Falk, said there were already some safeguards in place to ensure that information was not held longer than it needed to be.

"Privacy law already has a requirement that personal information needs to be deleted or de-identified when it's no longer needed for a legal purpose. So, that's an existing safeguard," she told 7.30.

Mr Robert insisted the data would only be used for coronavirus tracking and would not be held beyond the pandemic.

"[The] Government's not going to use your data for anything else," he said.

"And when the pandemic is finished, it gets deleted, the app gets deleted.

"The National Health Data Store, your data there is deleted.

"And that gives you a sense of certainty about how this comes to a conclusion."

That is reassuring for Ms Falk.

"That the information will be deleted on the phone, when it's no longer clinically relevant information, and at the end of the pandemic, are both very important undertakings," she said.
Click to expand...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-20/how-will-australia-coronavirus-tracking-app-work/12163736

Krusty · Apr 20, 2020

I won't be downloading their app anyway, but...

Here's one problem I see with the Australian app that they are proposing; I could be infected and visit an illegal party (or any public location / group gathering), cough all over the place and leave within 15 minutes and that won't be recorded, making their app useless.

"Within 1.5 metres for 15 minutes or longer."

I've read different tests about how long this virus can stay in the air and on surfaces, also making this app useless.

guest · Apr 20, 2020

Rift opens over European coronavirus contact tracing apps
April 20, 2020
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...oronavirus-contact-tracing-apps-idUSKBN2221U0

A rift has opened up over the design of smartphone apps to trace people in Europe at risk of coronavirus infection, potentially hindering efforts to curb the pandemic and ease crippling travel restrictions.

Scientists and researchers from more than 25 countries published an open letter on Monday urging governments not to abuse such technology to spy on their people and warning of risks in an approach championed by Germany.

“We are concerned that some ‘solutions’ to the crisis may, via mission creep, result in systems which would allow unprecedented surveillance of society at large,” said the letter that gathered more than 300 signatures.
Click to expand...

MISSION CREEP
The rift has opened up over a German-led initiative, called Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT https://www.pepp-pt.org), which has been criticised for being too centralised and thus prone to governmental mission creep.
Its critics back a decentralised contact tracing protocol called DP-3T here pioneered by Swiss researchers, that is aligned with a technology alliance between Apple and Alphabet's Google.

“Solutions which allow reconstructing invasive information about the population should be rejected without further discussion,” the scientists said in their letter.
Click to expand...

guest · Apr 20, 2020

2 billion phones cannot use Google and Apple contact-tracing tech
System developed by Silicon Valley relies on technology missing from older handsets
April 20, 2020
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...t-use-google-and-apple-contract-tracing-tech/

As many as a billion mobile phone owners around the world will be unable to use the smartphone-based system proposed by Apple and Google to track whether they have come into contact with people infected with the coronavirus, industry researchers estimate.

The figure includes many poorer and older people—who are also among the most vulnerable to COVID-19—demonstrating a “digital divide” within a system that the two tech firms have designed to reach the largest possible number of people while also protecting individuals’ privacy.
However, their scheme relies on specific wireless chips and software that are missing from hundreds of millions of smartphones that are still in active use, particularly those that were released more than five years ago.

“The underlying technology limitation is around the fact that there are still some phones in use that won’t have the necessary Bluetooth or latest operating system,” said Ben Wood, analyst at CCS Insight.
Click to expand...

In the UK, media regulator Ofcom said last year that about 80 percent of adults own a smartphone. However, Mr. Wood estimates that only around two-thirds of adults would have a compatible phone.

“And that’s the UK, which is an extremely advanced smartphone market,” he said. “In India, you could have 60-70 percent of the population that is ruled out immediately.”
Counterpoint Research is more optimistic, estimating that 88 percent compatibility in developed markets such as the US, UK, and Japan, while about half of people in India would own the necessary handset.
Click to expand...

guest · Apr 20, 2020

Will COVID-19 Claim Privacy Among Its Victims?
April 20, 2020
https://slate.com/technology/2020/04/coronavirus-privacy-future-tense-event.html

Using surveillance technology to get back to normal life after COVID-19 makes sense, right? “If Typhoid Mary had a cellphone, we’d want to know where she was,” said Al Gidari, consulting director of Privacy at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society.
What isn’t so apparent is what degree of surveillance we need to effectively track the virus, and how much privacy we may have to sacrifice to get there.

Gidari was part of Thursday’s Future Tense web event “Will COVID-19 Claim Privacy Among its Victims?” [...] The three discussed how to balance the needs of the masses with the rights of the individual in unprecedented times.
Waldron focused on the different systems and tools that could be used for virus surveillance.
While Bluetooth tools could be seen as less invasive than location tracking, Waldron warned that they still pose privacy risks.
Click to expand...

Waldron emphasized that we need to be skeptical of coronavirus being used as an excuse to expand the existing surveillance regimes.
So how much privacy are we willing to forfeit to return to normal?
In Europe, some governments are exploring the idea of coronavirus immunity passes to indicate who is allowed to re-enter society, [...]

Heightened surveillance during COVID-19 is alarming and demands nuanced debate, but Gidari doesn’t think this is the death of privacy: “At the end of the day, privacy is going to be just as important coming out of this as coming into it.”
Click to expand...

Krusty · Apr 20, 2020

Coronavirus tracing app given thumbs up by independent cyber security agency

The head of an independent agency testing the security of the Government's new COVID-19 tracing app says she will be downloading it, adding that she is "comfortable" with what she has seen so far.

Rachael Falk is the chief executive of the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre (CSCRC), which, in a rare move, approached the Government to stress test the soon-to-be-released app and provide an independent assessment.

"There is always a lot of noise around anything that has to do with a commonwealth data application," she told the ABC.

"I come from a position of fact, so I can talk about what I've seen so far. And so far, I'm comfortable with what I've seen."
Click to expand...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04...rts-security-coronavirus-tracing-app/12168136

lucd · Apr 21, 2020

it happened in China, it will happen in other countries too, the gov got what it wanted, a desire born long before covid - it is obvious they can benefit from the situation and they did in some areas already (I am not saying that they did not suffer from it too), this was something unexpected that could benefit China and China's actual policy greatly, depends a lot on the virus itself and advances in medicine, how long this will last.

guest · Apr 21, 2020

Aarogya Setu not a magic tool; it breaches privacy
It is universally recognised that crises like pandemics enable governments to increase surveillance
April 21, 2020
https://www.asianage.com/opinion/co...setu-not-a-magictool-it-breaches-privacy.html

On April 14, Prasar Bharati issued an office memorandum making it mandatory for its staff to install the Aarogya Setu app. The memo was issued the day prime minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation to announce that the nationwide lockdown would remain in force till May 3, although there will be partial easing from April 20. He too appealed to the people to download the app. Earlier, on April 6, he had asked BJP workers to promote the app among the people.

The memo directed that instructions must be issued to all security personnel to “ensure that all those entering and leaving the premises of Prasar Bharati establishments should confirm they have activated the app”.
Not just that, there are also reports that officials in some districts have made it mandatory for people to install the application and roped in RWAs and market associations to ensure compliance.

Aarogya Setu has also been recommended by the Central Board of Secondary Education in schools and other educational institutions that it can influence. Government sources have claimed that till the point of writing almost 50 million users have downloaded the app since it was launched in early April.
Click to expand...

In the absence of any kind of complete transparency, one can deduce that this app works on the basis of contact tracing.
The app is thus a post facto application and not a real-time alert device as is being understood by most people. The only alert that the smartphone will receive is that there are others in the vicinity who have downloaded the app.

It has been seen, most starkly with the British Raj-era law mentioned above, that laws introduced during an emergency remain in force long after it has passed. For the moment, the government may be within its rights to recommend the use of the app. But to make it compulsory violates individual freedom and breaches everyone’s personal privacy.
Click to expand...

BriggsAndStratton · Apr 22, 2020

Apple particularly, but Google as well. They should be ashamed of themselves for getting involved with this.

guest · Apr 22, 2020

mood said: ↑

Israel passes emergency law to use mobile data for COVID-19 contact tracing
March 18, 2020
https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/18/i...use-mobile-data-for-covid-19-contact-tracing/
Click to expand...

Israel Suspends Cellphone-Tracking for Coronavirus Quarantine Enforcement
April 23, 2020
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/202...reuters-health-coronavirus-israel-police.html

An Israeli parliamentary oversight committee on Wednesday suspended police use of cellphone data to enforce coronavirus quarantines, with one lawmaker citing privacy concerns.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government last month empowered the police to requisition cellphone roaming data on those ordered to self-isolate as suspected or confirmed coronavirus carriers, to confirm that they were not straying.
The measure, and a parallel decision to use counter-terrorist technology developed by the Shin Bet security agency to map out carriers' movements and infection patterns, prompted Supreme Court challenges by civil liberties groups.

"The utility offered by this (cellphone tracking) is outweighed by the great harm inflicted to privacy," committee member Ayelet Shaked said on Twitter, arguing that police could make do with visits to quarantine homes.
Click to expand...

The use of Shin Bet technology, to map out past movements of confirmed coronavirus carriers and identify other people who might have been exposed to them, continues. While secret, it is widely believed to be based on tracking cellphones.

The information gleaned is expunged after a week, the official said, dismissing privacy concerns.
Besides, the official said, "people don't have to carry a phone on them if they are doing something very personal".
Click to expand...

guest · Apr 22, 2020

Coronavirus: France Asks For Easing Of Privacy For Covid-19 Tracing API
April 22, 2020
https://www.silicon.co.uk/workspace/coronavirus-france-easing-privacy-tracing-api-340555

France has thrown a potential spanner into the plans for the Covid-19 tracking technology that tech giants Apple and Google are jointly developing.

On 10 April it was revealed that Apple and Google were jointly developing an application programming interface (API) that could assist governments in tracking the spread of of Covid-19 through the use of Bluetooth built into smartphones.
French call
But now France has publicly called for Google and Apple to weaken the privacy protections around digital contact tracing.
The French government admitted that its own plans will not work unless both tech firms make changes to the Android and iOS operating systems.
Click to expand...

France’s digital minister, Cédric O, confirmed that it was seeking to ease Google’s and Apple’s strict limits on what data can be sent back to public health authorities in an interview with Bloomberg.

“We’re asking Apple to lift the technical hurdle to allow us to develop a sovereign European health solution that will be tied our health system,” O was reported by the Guardian newspaper as saying.
Apple safeguards
The French problem mostly centres on Apple phones, which will impose strict limits on contact tracing apps that do not conform to the new privacy requirements.
Click to expand...

Krusty · Apr 22, 2020

Tracing apps can help halt coronavirus but most of us won’t cooperate unless everyone does

As governments look to ease general social-distancing measures and instead use more targeted strategies to stop coronavirus transmission, we face a social dilemma about the limits of cooperative behaviour.

Consider the controversy over contact-tracing phone apps, which can help authorities identify people with whom someone diagnosed with COVID-19 has recently come into close contact.

Oxford University research suggests such apps could effectively stop the epidemic if 60 per cent of the population use them, though even with lower uptake they still have some value.

The Australian Government's goal is for 40 per cent of the population to use its app. It is hoping people will do this voluntarily.

That's double the uptake so far achieved in Singapore, which launched its TraceTogether app on March 20. This despite a six-nation survey (including Australia) suggesting Singaporeans are the most relaxed about the personal privacy concerns.

My research into cooperative behaviour suggests there's no reason to believe voluntary uptake will be higher anywhere else.
Click to expand...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04...gether-coronavirus-who-will-download/12175866

Log in or Sign up

COVID-19 Could Provide Cover for Surveillance Expansion

roger_m Registered Member

Krusty Registered Member

hawki Registered Member

Krusty Registered Member

Krusty Registered Member

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

Krusty Registered Member

guest Guest

hawki Registered Member

dogbite Registered Member

Krusty Registered Member

Krusty Registered Member

Krusty Registered Member

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

Krusty Registered Member

lucd Registered Member

guest Guest

BriggsAndStratton Registered Member

guest Guest

guest Guest

Krusty Registered Member

Log in or Sign up

COVID-19 Could Provide Cover for Surveillance Expansion

roger_m Registered Member

Krusty Registered Member

hawki Registered Member

Krusty Registered Member

Krusty Registered Member

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

Krusty Registered Member

guest Guest

hawki Registered Member

dogbite Registered Member

Krusty Registered Member

Krusty Registered Member

Krusty Registered Member

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

Krusty Registered Member

lucd Registered Member

guest Guest

BriggsAndStratton Registered Member

guest Guest

guest Guest

Krusty Registered Member

Useful Searches