Saw this, checked and it's there

[Allinadaystwerk]

Not sure how I feel about having this download on my phone without my permission. How about you?

@Chaotic45

There are a few simple things that speak volumes about a person in my book: Dropping litter

Not calling out prejudice

Not recycling

Taking the last biscuit without asking if anyone else would like it

Refusing to cooperate with T&T due to privacy concerns or as a stick to beat the government with when in actual fact they are simply prolonging the misery and hardship of almost every other human in our country.

That's your choice. It's my choice not to do it, as is my right.

There will be numerous things you do that I don't approve of, that's life.

I have an android and can't find it? When I go to settings there isn't a 'Google settings' option

I’ve got it too. Great! Happy to be one step closer to suppressing this pandemic that has taken so many lives and damaged so many others. Call me crazy but I’d also quite like to know when I’ve been near someone with Covid or when I could have infected others.

It's on my android

If you want track and trace to work then I imagine this is necessary?

Has anyone read the first paragraph after they've uploaded the offending screenshots or complained this this?

In settings > privacy > health (on iPhone):

"When enabled, iPhone can exchange random IDs with other devices using Bluetooth. This enables an app to notify you if you may have been exposed to COVID-19. Exposure Logging cannot access any data in, or add any data to, the Health App.

This is where mine is

I'm not techy s please don't flame me, mine is called an app (does that qualify as an app?) and mine is on with the capacity to turn it off. I will google, but I'm not sure I'll understand the results, and this sounds a little different to what other people are finding on their phones?

Nothing on my phone but I would be happy to have the app when it’s available in my area.....
Are you sure its not on buggeroff
It's not in apps. It's in notifications. If you type Covid in search bar it comes up. I thought all phones updated now.

@dudsville can you screenshot it?

People with so little understanding of technology shouldn't be allowed to have smartphones. There are plenty of early 21st century Nokias on ebay if you're really worried.

support.google.com/android/answer/9888358

The link above is Android's support page explaining how this actually works, by the way.

I have just found it on my phone too.
This is very worrying for reasons other than Covid 19. I have put a lot of effort, not to mention money and heart wrenching decisions, into escaping a very difficult situation and I don't want to be traced. It may not be for the purposes of finding out where each of us are on a daily basis but I now feel that little bit less secure.

@dementedpixie thanks, just found it on my phone!!!!!

Really pleased that Apple and Google have begun to lay down the functionality for a future track and trace app. It's on mine and I welcome it.

Mine is there but is switched off.

I went into settings and there isn't a google button. Can anyone help?

I can’t understand why people are confused by this. Updates add things to your phone all the time. Remember when everyone with an iPhone had the U2 album forced on them? Just like that.

It's not the fact that it's there for me. It's more the fact that people didn't know about it.

It it’s a basic enabling bit of software for the tracking. It’s defaulted to off. Unless you feel the same about every single app update and security update, this is nothing to get aereated about.

This is like complaining that your phone has a vibrate option that you don't want to use.

I never use vibrate, but I really don't care that it's an option. Lots of other people use it, so it makes sense to have the option which you can switch on or off.

Obviously you can download the apps you want and customise your settings and user interface to suit you, but it's unreasonable to expect that the underlying capabilities of the phone should be bespoke to each individual.

support.google.com/android/answer/9888358?hl=en-GB

Use the COVID-19 exposure notifications system on your Android phone
You can be notified if you've been exposed to someone who reported having COVID-19 by turning on exposure notifications. If you change your mind, you can turn it off.

To use the system, you will need to download your public health authority's app.

• If you have COVID-19, you may share that info with the app to help alert people that you've been in contact with.
• If you've been exposed to someone who has shared that they have COVID-19, the app will notify you and give you further instructions.

What you need to get started
• Download an app from your region's government public health authority. To find out if an app is available, check with your government.
• Turn on your phone's Bluetooth. Learn how to turn on Bluetooth.
• Turn on your phone's location setting. Learn how to turn on location. The system uses this to scan for Bluetooth signals. The system does not collect or track your location.

How exposure notifications work
When you turn on exposure notifications within an app from your region's government public health authority, your phone shares random IDs with other nearby phones that also have turned on the exposure notifications system.

Throughout the day, your phone and the phones around you exchange random IDs. When your phone detects a random ID from another device, it records and stores the ID.

If someone reports having COVID-19 and their ID is stored on your phone, the app will notify you of the next steps to take.

How the app may determine exposure
The government public health authority determines which factors might indicate exposure.

If the app learns that you've come into contact with someone who reports themselves as having COVID-19, the system shares with the app:

• The day that the contact happened.
• How long the contact lasted.
• The Bluetooth signal strength of that contact.
The public health authority app is not allowed to use your phone's location.

The exposure notifications system itself does not use your location or share other users’ identities with the app, Google or Apple.

If you have COVID-19

1. In the public health app, you may report yourself as having COVID-19.
2. The app may ask you to share your random IDs. This helps the public health authority to notify others.
3. The app may then check if your random IDs are stored on other people's devices. It may alert others who came into contact with you. Those other people won't know your identity.

How the exposure notification system protects your privacy
You decide if and when to share your data.

• All of the exposure notification matching happens on your device, which means that only you and your app know if you report having COVID-19 or been exposed to someone who has reported having COVID-19. Your identity is never shared with other users, Apple or Google.
• When you download a public health authority app, you can opt in to use exposure notifications.
• If you have COVID-19, you can choose to share your random IDs with the app.
• To help prevent tracking, your phone's random ID changes every 10–20 minutes.
• Your phone only stores random IDs from the last 14 days.
• The public health authority app is not allowed to use your phone's location or track your location in the background.
• Only official public health authority apps can use the system.

support.google.com/android/answer/9888358?hl=en-GB

I wish people would stop saying other posters shouldn’t have smart phones as they aren’t smart enough. Can’t you see how ignorant you are all sounding...calling people stupid isn’t smart either.

It's just a tiny bit of software that allows a tracking app to work if you (a) download the app and (b) enable the setting to 'on'.
Absolutely nothing to get worried about but I don't suppose that will stop the conspiracy theorists or flat-earthers

Yep its on my android.