Was your phone shut off?? Now I know why!

My phone wasn't shut off and I have it. It only works if you have location and Bluetooth on, and you download an app that uses it. If you go into your settings it explains how it works.

I will not be downloading the app. I don't keep my bluetooth/location on, either.

 Verizon here..no interruptions.

We use sprint, no interruptions. But we do have the Covid update now.

The t mobile outage had nothing to do with any Android or ios updates.

Mine says you don't need to download any apps. OTOH it's not a tracking thing it's a notification thing. Mine was defaulted "off", it says If i want to send out a notification blah blah blah.

Thing is, if I want to share my health status with people I will be phoning them.

At the risk of being snarked at like I was on Facebook when I explained this to someone.

I’ll just share this article.

Basically, Google and Apple released an update to each of their respective OS API that allows apps designed for contract tracing to work effectively. It does absolutely nothing without a separate app downloaded.
🙂

www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2020/06/20/have-apple-and-google-suddenly-uploaded-a-covid-19-tracking-app-to-your-phone-android-iphone-exposure-notification-contact-tracing/

it's not actually the tracker. It's a security setting so if you do install a tracker for Covid, you can disable it without impacting other apps that use Bluetooth (like smart watchs etc.. So when and if you choose oinstall a tracker you can choose to disable its connectivity.

From BBC (uk) website:
Covid-19 tracing software tool has appeared in the settings of both Android phones and iPhones as part of an update of their operating systems.
The "exposure notification" tool is switched off by default, and is not a tracing app itself.
It enables an app to run in the background while still using Bluetooth.
This lets the app measure the distance between two handsets - and then alert the phone owner if someone near them later tests positive for Covid-19.
In the UK there is currently no available contact-tracing app.
The update has caused some confusion, with people querying the new addition to their handsets on social media.
"This is not a new app but is an extra element added to the phones' operating systems to enable approved developers to build apps that can potentially warn of proximity to infected individuals," said computer scientist Prof Alan Woodward, of Surrey University.
"Only apps approved by Google and Apple will be included in their app stores where they try to make use of this facility."

Here is what my phone says

m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10223295358275006&id=1316476124&set=a.1611302765243&source=48

If you have an iPhone you go to
Privacy > Health

And then you’ll see the covid tracking.

On an Android it's in settings>google settings.

It does nothing unless one has the app. All it is is the firmware to support the app when the app is eventually downloaded to your phone. 

I posted it about an attack on June 15th, not sure if it happened:



A DDoS attack:
A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack occurs when multiple systems flood the bandwidth or resources of a targeted system, usually one or more web servers. Such an attack is often the result of multiple compromised systems (for example, a botnet) flooding the targeted system with traffic.

In basic terms the app uses bluetooth to "record" which other phones also with the app you have been close to.
All of that data is stored in an encrypted format on your phone.

Then when someone tests positive, that person can give permission to access the data stored on their phone to identify which other phones it has been close to over those last two weeks - and then text messages can be sent to those phones to let people know that they have potentially been exposed and to isolate & get tested.

It doesn't use contacts in your phone. You also don't get any details about anyone, nor do they get details about you...of course if it's a family member who tests positive, then it will be pretty easy to work out, but if it's a stranger you sat next to on the bus, then you'll just get a text message to say you have potentially been exposed.

There are some concerns about privacy, how the data is handled etc...I'm not even going to attempt to explain that, but for me, at my stage of life, I don't really give a shit about any potential Government tracking, what I DO care about is my own physical health, so if the app helps me to protect that, then I'm good with it.