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?

It’s on my phone too, and DH’s.

I'm not sure some people should have a smartphone...

Yes it’s on mine and DH’s. I don’t mind, it’s for our benefit.

IOS updated this week.

Yes what's going on? I've just discovered someones put a camera on my phone. I didn't ask them to do that. What are they taking pictures of?

My friend Conar said you can stop this sort of thing happening if you wrap your phone in multiple layers of tin foil. Worth a try I suppose.

Don't worry, if you don't download the app, NHS digital already have consent to share your medical records with 3rd parties under a new Covid code.

Don’t understand why people wouldn’t want this. We all want our lives to return to normal. Things like this can help make that happen.

I’m really shocked by people not knowing or wanting to understand what this actually is.

A while back, an iPhone update included changes to aid in face recognition (for unlocking the phone) while wearing a mask. It’s the same type of thing: life changes, needs change, and the phone capabilities are updated.

What scares me is that many people apparently have no idea what they are actually sharing with the world anyway, what their phones do, and what’s being done with all that information. This is nothing new!

I live in Germany, we have an app, no system setting (as discussed in OP).

It assigns you a random ID. This isn't traceable to you as the app doesn't take any of your personal data (name, google ID, etc) however I believe the random ID (just a string of letters) is "tied" in their system to your device ID. However this is kept private.

At all times (if bluetooth is on) your phone will send out little "pings" via bluetooth consisting only of the random ID you've been assigned. Essentially it's a digital signal saying "BertieBotts woz ere" but without actually saying who you are.

When your phone encounters one of these "pings" from another device using the app, it stores the ID number on your phone in a "short term" list. If it receives another "ping" signifying you've been in contact with this person for at least 15 minutes, it stores that ID in a "long term" list. After 2 weeks, the long term list IDs are deleted. I'm not sure how long the short term ones are kept for.

If at any point you get a Coronavirus test which is positive, you can scan a QR code on the results which tells the app you have a legitimate positive test result. If you don't want to use QR/can't/the lab that tested you didn't give you one, you phone a helpline and get a pin code to again verify that this is a real result and not just you messing around.

After this result the app looks at all the random IDs of people which are stored in your long-term list on your phone (which will be less than 2 weeks old) and sends a message to the central database: Notify these users that someone they have been in contact with has coronavirus. The central database doesn't get your 2-week list at any other time. It doesn't store that you've had a positive result. And even if it did, it wouldn't be linked to your name.

If you're on someone's two week list and they test positive, you'll get a notification saying this. You can then self isolate as a precaution, and get access to testing if you develop symptoms (I think).

@WhoWouldHaveThoughtThat love it

On the plus side, I feel like Hackerman next to most of the people in this thread

OK I updated IOS- and now it's there.
So I suspect nobody reads what they are actually agreeing to when they run updates. That's hardly the government or apples fault.

@lilgreen people are complaining because its automatically downloaded on their phone and they are concerned about companies snooping. They a stupid as it clearly states its off by default and will not work unless they download a seperate app.

Whatever happened to fact checking instead of blindly believing something on Facebook. Honestly sick of this world atm.

Exactly. People update iOS and don’t read the t&c so this is no different. So much data is collected in this world. I’m not doing anything I need to hide. Can’t get worked up about it.

So many crazy conspiracy theorists on here - this isn't weird or abnormal or strange or dangerous. You're being crazy people - actually tin-foil hat nutters.

*Where I live we are told there is no Covid-19.

Antarctica?*

I didn't say there was no Covid 19. I said we are told there is on Covid 19.
I am in Tanzania

Why are people shocked that the new update they chose to download contains things they were told about and agreed to when ticking yes to their update

Its like complaining about cheese being on a cheeseburger.

Yep, its on my phone too

This has been widely reported and shared on Facebook, I don't know about other social media but it's not a secret, I checked my phone weeks ago when I first read about it.

@BertieBotts

I live in Germany, we have an app, no system setting (as discussed in OP).

It assigns you a random ID. This isn't traceable to you as the app doesn't take any of your personal data (name, google ID, etc) however I believe the random ID (just a string of letters) is "tied" in their system to your device ID. However this is kept private.

At all times (if bluetooth is on) your phone will send out little "pings" via bluetooth consisting only of the random ID you've been assigned. Essentially it's a digital signal saying "BertieBotts woz ere" but without actually saying who you are.

When your phone encounters one of these "pings" from another device using the app, it stores the ID number on your phone in a "short term" list. If it receives another "ping" signifying you've been in contact with this person for at least 15 minutes, it stores that ID in a "long term" list. After 2 weeks, the long term list IDs are deleted. I'm not sure how long the short term ones are kept for.

If at any point you get a Coronavirus test which is positive, you can scan a QR code on the results which tells the app you have a legitimate positive test result. If you don't want to use QR/can't/the lab that tested you didn't give you one, you phone a helpline and get a pin code to again verify that this is a real result and not just you messing around.

After this result the app looks at all the random IDs of people which are stored in your long-term list on your phone (which will be less than 2 weeks old) and sends a message to the central database: Notify these users that someone they have been in contact with has coronavirus. The central database doesn't get your 2-week list at any other time. It doesn't store that you've had a positive result. And even if it did, it wouldn't be linked to your name.

If you're on someone's two week list and they test positive, you'll get a notification saying this. You can then self isolate as a precaution, and get access to testing if you develop symptoms (I think).

Thank you Bertie, really useful information.

Everyone who's insulting people for not understanding what's going on should be ashamed of themselves.

Surely none of you are stupid enough to think that your phones are impenetrable? Do those people who are so upset by this actually know what it is?

Everyone who freaks out rather than taking a minute to read the thread through and research it for themselves should be ashamed of themselves.

The Covid content in this upgrade has been in the public domain since at least 20 May (date this was published)

Everyone is saying it’s part of the new update but I’ve not updated my phone in ages and it’s there on mine!