# Covidwise contact tracing app - yea or nay? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [August 6, 2020, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covidwise-contact-tracing-app-yea-or-nay/917410 "2020-08-06T13:38:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covidwise-contact-tracing-app-yea-or-nay/917410/1 "2020-08-06T13:38:40Z")
Virginia has announced an exposure notification app called covidwise, based on Google and Apple’s approach. The privacy design looks pretty good, but I don’t have time to dive deeply. Any thoughts or experience from SDMBers? The approach looks very similar to the app just released in Canada. The description says it uses Bluetooth Low Energy to share tokens with nearby phones also using the app. The app measures distance by signal strength rather than location data. The tokens are anonymous, and changed every 15 minutes. The app saves the tokens. If a person tests positive for covid-19, the Virginia Department of Health gives the person a code they may (but do not have to) enter into the app, and their tokens from the prior 2 weeks are added to a list of tokens representing positive results. Each app downloads that list daily. If your saved tokens match any on the list, you are notified. Here’s the Governor’s press release on the app: [https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/all-releases/2020/august/headline-859803-en.html](https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/all-releases/2020/august/headline-859803-en.html) ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covidwise-contact-tracing-app-yea-or-nay/917410/2 "2020-08-06T13:46:16Z")
For something like this to be effective, you need a large portion of the population to buy into it. If there’s one thing Americans have proven, it’s that a large portion of them will refuse to buy into anything that goes against their ideology, even if it kills them. I don’t see this working well here, sadly. In theory, it’s a fantastic idea. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covidwise-contact-tracing-app-yea-or-nay/917410/3 "2020-08-06T14:52:09Z")
One problem I see is that there are multiple apps for this. Are they all compatible, so the data is shared among all of them? ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covidwise-contact-tracing-app-yea-or-nay/917410/4 "2020-08-06T14:54:48Z")
I don’t have location turned on on my phone let alone wifi, NFC, or Bluetooth. My reception is spotty enough that the battery barely lasts the day with all the _trying to connect_ and reconnects the phone goes through. In my world this app is a no. Kind of thought that if a real tracing app would work it would have to be totally anonymous. Along the lines of “hey you were near someone yesterday that tests positive, go get checked out later this week. Self isolate until then.” ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covidwise-contact-tracing-app-yea-or-nay/917410/5 "2020-08-06T14:57:28Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > One problem I see is that there are multiple apps for this. Are they all compatible, so the data is shared among all of them? The data is supposed to be unified. Apple and Google have added anonymous tracking info at the platform level and the various apps should all be consuming the same map of contacts, the variation would be only in the presentation and notification mechanisms. > **[Privacy-Preserving Contact Tracing - Apple and Google](https://covid19.apple.com/contacttracing)** > > Contact Tracing makes it possible to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covidwise-contact-tracing-app-yea-or-nay/917410/6 "2020-08-06T14:58:10Z")
> [@PoppaSan](#): > > Kind of thought that if a real tracing app would work it would have to be totally anonymous. Along the lines of “hey you were near someone yesterday that tests positive, go get checked out later this week. Self isolate until then.” This is exactly how it’s supposed to work. > **[How Covid-19 Contact Tracing Works on Your Phone](https://www.wired.com/story/covid-19-contact-tracing-apple-google/)** > > Developers are working on track-and-trace systems to keep infection levels low. The apps aren't here yet, but here's what they do—and how you can enable them. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covidwise-contact-tracing-app-yea-or-nay/917410/7 "2020-08-06T16:05:02Z")
It’s the same framework that was used by Switzerland, Germany, and Ireland. Due to how it works and the privacy protecting methodology, it’s tricky to measure how well they are doing, but Ireland added an optional “share some data with us” functionality and it appears that [they are happy with the results](https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53525712). As you noted, privacy was the primary focus when the framework was developed, with the assumption being that without privacy, it wouldn’t be used on a large scale (which turned out to be a pretty accurate prediction). Also, this framework ties directly into the operating system, so once activated, it doesn’t have to be actively running, which is another reason that the more centralized apps have fared poorly. Install, allow notifications, done. It’s also really easy for any government to implement, as both Ireland and Germany have made their code open source. While I haven’t looked at Ireland’s code base, I have looked through the German version. It uses localization resource files, so translating it into different languages is a piece of cake. If you happen to need it in one of the languages below, it’s already been done for you: - Arabic - Bulgarian - German - English - Polish - Portugese - Romanian - Russian - Turkish ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covidwise-contact-tracing-app-yea-or-nay/917410/8 "2020-08-07T03:04:38Z")
That’s a good list of languages. Do they also have Spanish, which is important for the Americas? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covidwise-contact-tracing-app-yea-or-nay/917410/9 "2020-08-07T13:43:26Z")
Thanks for the info, everyone! I installed the app last night. If I ever get out among people again, I’ll let you know what happens. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covidwise-contact-tracing-app-yea-or-nay/917410/10 "2020-08-07T14:30:28Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > Do they also have Spanish, which is important for the Americas? [It wasn’t on GitHub yet](https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-app-ios/tree/develop/src/xcode/ENA/ENA/Resources/Localization), but each language is actually a piece of cake to implement when resource localization is used. I’m sure they’d be fine if you wanted to help with a Spanish version. You typically have a file for each language that looks like the below text (this is the beginning of their Arabic file on GitHub). Then the app just subs in the appropriate text for each action, button, etc., based on which language was chosen. “Alert\_TitleGeneral” = “حدث خطأ.”; “Alert\_ActionOk” = “موافق”; “Alert\_ActionRetry” = “تكرار”; “Alert\_ActionCancel” = “إلغاء”; “Alert\_ActionRemove” = “إزالة”; “Alert\_BluetoothOff\_Title” = “تشغيل Bluetooth”; “Alert\_BluetoothOff\_Description” = “قم بتنشيط Bluetooth في إعدادات النظام لاستخدام هذا التطبيق.”; “Alert\_CancelAction\_Later” = “لاحقًا”; “Alert\_DefaultAction\_OpenSettings” = “فتح الإعدادات”; “General\_BackButtonTitle” = “الخلف”; ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covidwise-contact-tracing-app-yea-or-nay/917410/11 "2020-12-09T08:02:37Z")
California has released a contact tracing app which will go live on Thurs. It sounds like previous attempts in other states weren’t very successful. For those roll outs, people could still shrug off the virus since the rate of infection wasn’t as high. But maybe with the high rate of infection, the more technologically proficient user base and hopefully some improvements in the app, it might help. [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-california-app-idUSKBN28H2EO?utm\_source=reddit.com](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-california-app-idUSKBN28H2EO?utm_source=reddit.com) > [@](#): > > Beginning on Thursday, people in California can activate the exposure notifications tool from the settings menu on iPhones or by downloading the CA Notify App in the Google Play store on Android devices. > . . . > At least 6 million people in the United States have tried the system in recent months across the 21 states and two territories that made apps available before California. Colorado and New York are among other states with apps. > > Public health experts say adoption has lagged because of technical shortcomings in the earliest apps, privacy concerns and dismissive attitudes toward taking precautions to avoid the virus. But California officials hope the app will be adopted quickly in a state that is home to many tech workers. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covidwise-contact-tracing-app-yea-or-nay/917410/12 "2020-12-09T13:01:35Z")
I have the app and started a thread about it here, trying to get people to install it. I also pushed it on my Facebook page and among all the people I see in person (outside, socially distanced). Since I don’t spend much time near anyone, I haven’t gotten any notifications (thankfully). That, plus I doubt many people have it installed. It’s completely anonymous and doesn’t even use GPS, just bluetooth to exchange anonymous codes. It doesn’t know where you’ve been or who you’ve been close to, it just knows whether you’ve been close to someone who tested positive. You never send any information up, unless you test positive and decide to tell the servers that. Then, the servers tell everyone that if they’ve been close to someone with your code, they may have been exposed.