Quote Of The Day

"Victory goes to the player who makes the next-to-last mistake - Chessmaster Savielly Grigorievitch Tartakower (1887-1956)"

Friday, August 21, 2020

Track & Trace app in iOS 14...

The latest iOS 14 beta has more Covid-19 Exposure Notification options built in to it. For those concerned about privacy, it is very much an "Opt In" rather than an "Opt Out" system.
 
The system will only work if two things happen; 1) if *you* enable the option on your phone AND, 2) if *you* download and install any (health? Government?) app to use that option. So it will be voluntary not mandatory.
 
Of course there are lots of discussions about any track & trace app to be had that will no doubt use words like “trust”, “privacy”, "civil duty" and talk of whether some buildings, venues, public or private spaces, will only allow access if you have an enabled tracing app on your phone. 
 
Some will sign up straight away. Some won’t. Some won't be able to if their don't have a smart phone. Some will be concerned about any privacy issues. Others will steer well clear on principle. Some might take a more nuanced approach and sign up but not use it. Some may wait and see what others do. Some people might be happier with a manual contract tracing system rather than a digital contact tracing system. 
 
Ultimately it will require people to have faith in an app that may end up telling them to stay home for a long period, isolate, and get a test.
 
So far even the most compliant countries (Oz, Iceland, Singapore, Taiwan etc.) are only seeing around 35-40% take up of their own tracing apps. Any digital tracing app really needs a minimum 60% take up for it to be effective, ideally 80%.

Let’s see how this one plays out. 

Whether it is digital or manual, track & trace will have a part to play in any pandemic - even if and when a vaccine is widely available.







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