I think the distinction is whether the point of contact tracing data is for A) centralized authority to use state resources to mitigate spread B) inform private

I think the distinction is whether the point of contact tracing data is for A) centralized authority to use state resources to mitigate spread B) inform private individuals whether they've been exposed and empower them to self isolate. Any reasonable assessment is going to conclude the latter does not work well for epidemiological containment, especially in places drunk on liberty. Current successful trace and isolation systems in places with more trust in government and compliance recognized individual responsibility does not scale. America's cultural preoccupation's with muh freedom is influencing the contact tracing frame work by Google + Apple - the only one that will be ubiquitous and interoperable enough to be meaningful - hence them butting heads with various governments. One one hand delivering a minimally useful privacy preserving system is a sensible start, on the other hand, that's all it is, a start. Governments who are serious about covid19 is going to build off this technology to to strip away the privacy pretenses and execute effective trace + isolation strategies. Many of them will also abuse it in the aftermath. It maybe the new normal, but it's not too different from the old normal.