Apple Releases iOS 12.5.1 With Exposure Notifications Bug Fix for Older iPhones

[-DMN-]

Can you explain what's so creepy about it?

I am a developer and my developer friends and I did a deep dive on how this feature is implemented on the iOS side. Nothing at all strikes me as even remotely creepy.

Logging randomized Bluetooth ID of nearby devices (within 33 feet), which changes every 15 minutes and cannot be traced back to a specific user, and storing only on your device and not on the cloud is certainly private enough. And the feature only notifies you if those tested positive manually and voluntarily logs the positive test results.

Where is the privacy concern here?

Privacy concerns? Ever heard of Edward Snowden? Never give the government blind trust, unless you enjoy long falls off a cliff.

 

[-DMN-]

For many states, such as California, you don't need to install any app. They use iOS's Exposure Notifications Express app framework, which can be activated from Settings | Exposure Notifications.

List of states that support Exposure Notification:

1. Alabama (app)
2. Arizona (app)
3. California (express)
4. Colorado (express)
5. Connecticut (express)
6. Delaware (app)
7. District of Columbia (express)
8. Hawaii (app)
9. Louisiana (app)
10. Maryland (express)
11. Michigan (app)
12. Minnesota (express)
13. Nevada (express)
14. New Jersey (app)
15. New York (app)
16. North Carolina (app)
17. North Dakota (app)
18. Pennsylvania (app)
19. South Carolina (app)
20. Virginia (app)
21. Washington (express)
22. Wisconsin (express)
23. Wyoming (app)

Coming soon:

• Oregon

Texas didn’t make the list. ?
FWEEEDOM!!!

 

[nutmac]

Privacy concerns? Ever heard of Edward Snowden? Never give the government blind trust, unless you enjoy long falls off a cliff.

Your answer is in line with steal the vote arguments. Conspiracy theories without any evidence.

Edit: I suspect I will be downvoted by other conspiracy theories, who will downvote without providing any evidence.

 

[-DMN-]

Your answer is in line with steal the vote arguments. Conspiracy theories without any evidence.

Edit: I suspect I will be downvoted by other conspiracy theories, who will downvote without providing any evidence.

First of all my answer is not and Wikipedia most be wrong then, Edward Snowden disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA. Source: Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden
Second, if you would like links to congressional hearings with evidence of voter fraud I can provide you with those links. I’m serious, please let me know.

 

[nutmac]

First of all my answer is not and Wikipedia most be wrong then, Edward Snowden disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA. Source: Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden
Second, if you would like links to congressional hearings with evidence of voter fraud I can provide you with those links. I’m serious, please let me know.

I asked you any evidence of Exposure Notification framework being anti privacy, which does not transmit any identifiable information to nearby phones or server.

Instead, you are talking about Edward Snowden, who has nothing to do with this framework. Just what about randomized Bluetooth IDs (which is changed every 15 minutes and can't be reverse engineered) can the government or big corporations use to spy on people?

 

[gnasher729]

This stuff is so creepy. What an unnatural use for technology. Booo. Boooo.

Yesterday, there were 4,000 Covid deaths in the USA alone. Now _that's_ creepy.

 

[gnasher729]

What’s funny is that they bothered to add this to older devices but the Corona app in Germany requires iOS 13 something and therefore i still can’t put it on my mum’s iPhone 6

That's probably the case for all or most of these apps. The app wouldn't have worked on an iOS 12 device, so it was built to require iOS 13 - because it would have been pointless if you downloaded it on your iPhone 6 and it didn't work. All these developers have to change ONE number in their project from iOS 13.0 to iOS 12.5.1, submit it to the App Store, and it's done.

Yeah, for random annoying reasons, building apps targeting new iOS versions usually means non-support for older ones, and it's not obvious how to target old versions.

Not at all. Of course if you want to use a feature that is not available in an old iOS version, then you can't use it on an old device, but you can use it on a new device; the app just has to check what software it is running on. The problem in this particular case is that we have a feature here that makes the app altogether pointless if it's not available.

 

[gnasher729]

First of all my answer is not and Wikipedia most be wrong then, Edward Snowden disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA. Source: Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden
Second, if you would like links to congressional hearings with evidence of voter fraud I can provide you with those links. I’m serious, please let me know.

Oh that old nonsense again. The fact is that Donald Trump and his lawyers have not shown one bit of evidence of voter fraud to any court. It was always the same pattern: Huge claims of voter fraud. Then the court ask: Could you please give us some plausible reasons why you think there is voter fraud? Trump's lawyers: Ahem ... crickets ... you mean you want to see evidence? Court says: At this point I don't want evidence, I just want something that makes your claims plausible. Trump's lawyers: Ahem ... are we allowed to lie to the court like we lie to the public? Court says: No, you are not allowed to lie to the court. Trump's lawyers: In that case, we have nothing really. Court says: Goodbye, and come back when you have something.

There is of course the possibility that there is evidence of voter fraud, and Trump just hired the world's most incompetent lawyers. But with actual evidence, and not totally incompetent lawyers, some of these 60 cases would have gone forward.

 

[gnasher729]

Does anyone know what is planned for this API after this pandemic is over?
Is it going to remain on the phone or what?

Ask me again in ten years time. (By the way it looks in the UK right now).

 

[gnasher729]

This is only like a 1 year too late, a lot of lives couldve been saved if this was released sooner.

Reality (appeared in a newspaper): Couple goes on holiday; he tests positive for Covid-19, they are told to self isolate in a hotel, instead they decide to go straight back to the airport, trying to infect a 100 people or so on the flight home, but are caught by police. Idiots refusing to wear masks. In the USA, egged on by the president for another 168 long hours.

 

[gnasher729]

Privacy concerns? Ever heard of Edward Snowden? Never give the government blind trust, unless you enjoy long falls off a cliff.

There are people who put blind trust in their president, and now they are in jail, on the no-flight list, and some are dead. Are you talking about those people?

 

[-DMN-]

I asked you any evidence of Exposure Notification framework being anti privacy, which does not transmit any identifiable information to nearby phones or server.

Instead, you are talking about Edward Snowden, who has nothing to do with this framework. Just what about randomized Bluetooth IDs (which is changed every 15 minutes and can't be reverse engineered) can the government or big corporations use to spy on people?

I responded to your original statement on privacy concerns, clearly you not understanding my point, that trusting the government blindly is not a wise decision.