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So umm... there’s a COVID-19 exposure log trying to sync with my Bluetooth and Health app, and I definitely did not download or consent to adding the exposure log (contact tracing tool) to my phone.
WTF is this?
WTF is this?
For the love of god, please don’t hop in my mentions telling me it’s nothing. I don’t care if it hasn’t accessed my data (yet). I care that it’s on my phone and I didn’t put it there.
Check your phone (mine is an iPhone; I found it by checking my privacy settings). I doubt I’m the only one.
STOP NORMALIZING THIS STUFF. The burden should not be on individuals to notice when a company is trying to add something to a device to eventually access your data. The norm should be explicit consent, with the burden on the entity trying to put something on your device.
Tech companies are going to keep finding new ways to access and monetize your data until you show them that you’re not okay with it. When you shrug and just accept it as “part of an update,” you’re telling them that it’s okay to do things without your explicit consent.
Tech bros... please just take a seat for a minute. I’m not stupid and I don’t need permissions/updates explained to me. The whole point is that the current model is f*cked, and no one should be defending it.
....
https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1269304840468992001?s=21 https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1269304840468992001
https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1269304840468992001?s=21 https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1269304840468992001
Apple/Google’s contact tracing tool relies on government-run apps to work. It’s not mandatory (yet) to participate, but it can still be mandated in other ways — for example, employers, schools, & hospitals could require it as a condition of employment/entrance/provision of care.
Also unclear: How will Apple/Google oversee app operators to make sure the apps are complying with rules surrounding privacy & anonymity? Apple/Google could have a flawless tool, but we’re dealing with a system here. One vulnerability can bring the entire system down.
A reminder that Palantir was contracted by the US government to set up/run the federal government’s contact tracing system. So that’s who is on the other end of the Apple/Google tool that was just added to your phone.
https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1252933516217778177?s=21 https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1252933516217778177
https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1252933516217778177?s=21 https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1252933516217778177
And as I’ve said a million times before: Contact tracing is an essential and effective public health measure, but before we adopt new technologies to facilitate it, we need evidence that the new method is superior/more effective than existing methods.
https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1255922932595011584?s=21 https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1255922932595011584
https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1255922932595011584?s=21 https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1255922932595011584
Norway had one of the first COVID-19 contact-tracing apps in Europe... until they pulled it due to concerns about data protection and privacy.
But surely the Trump admin can be trusted to protect your data, right? .... Right, guys?
https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1272608653762277376?s=21 https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1272608653762277376
But surely the Trump admin can be trusted to protect your data, right? .... Right, guys?
https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1272608653762277376?s=21 https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1272608653762277376
Oh, but the contact-tracing system is a state program, not a federal initiative, right? Nope. It’s integrated with federal data as well as data from hospitals and other non-governmental entities.
But hey, it’s just part of an update, so nbd amirite?
https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1252930588274761728?s=21 https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1252930588274761728
But hey, it’s just part of an update, so nbd amirite?
https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1252930588274761728?s=21 https://twitter.com/rvawonk/status/1252930588274761728
Meanwhile, human rights advocates are warning that contact-tracing apps could be turned into a "tool of abuse" that exacerbates domestic violence and endangers survivors. https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/06/19/warning-covid-19-contact-tracing-apps-could-be-turned-into-tools-for-domestic-abuse/
"...perpetrators may make fraudulent claims that they have been in contact with survivors" in order to force them to self-isolate unnecessarily. In these circumstances, "survivors will have no means to identify the perpetrator as the original source."
Even though the contact-tracing app itself doesn’t collect location data, "if a perpetrator has installed spyware onto a survivor’s phone or is able to hack into it, then turning on location services [as required for the app to work] will expose their location.”
