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Can anyone show me an app in the wild that uses Bluetooth like or close to what the Covid apps wants to? Why isn't HN talking about the technical side at all?

Can anyone show me an app in the wild that uses Bluetooth like or close to what the Covid apps wants to? Why isn't HN talking about the technical side at all? We know Bluetooth on phones can't do what the governments says it can. We've all gone through the stage of, what if we used Bluetooth to track people indoors and do cool stuff! Then we realise you can't. The best we see is advertising maybe doing low quality beacons. It like we think C19 makes the impossible possible.

ObsoleteNerd 7y ago
The Australian one seems to follow the spec pretty will. Uses rolling random IDs and BT RSSI to check for proximity to infected people. “Infected” is declared by the patients getting the hospital to input a private key when they’re diagnosed, which then uploads their last x days of random IDs to declare them as infected. Source code is public and has been shared/audited on twitter etc but no formal audits that I’ve seen yet.
- shakna 7y ago
  > Source code is public and has been shared/audited on twitter etc but no formal audits that I’ve seen yet. I don't believe that's true. There is certainly decompiled code floating around, but release of the code has been delayed whilst the Signals Directorate investigate the app. [0] Worth noting that decompiling the app to see if it actually does what it says it does is a crime under the legislation backing it. > Agreed. The PIA and source code will be released subject to consultation with the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre. [0] https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2020/04/covidsafe-application-privacy-impact-assessment-agency-response.pdf https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2020...
- aaron695 7y ago
  I've decompiled the app for android and had a look over the source and what you say isn't true. The rolling ID doesn't work so 3rd parties can track you. Source code has not been released at all. It does not work in iOS I think is a fair statement. It won't until Apple do the update. It does not check the 'proximity to infected people'. All data processing is done by a human. The app just dumps all your info. All interactions with other phones with the app to a human. Then then work out times and if the person was 'close' So this is why I've asked the question. Surely someone on HN has made an android/iOS app and can comment. It would have to be around a phone Bluetoothing to a phone.

ObsoleteNerd 7y ago

The Australian one seems to follow the spec pretty will. Uses rolling random IDs and BT RSSI to check for proximity to infected people. “Infected” is declared by the patients getting the hospital to input a private key when they’re diagnosed, which then uploads their last x days of random IDs to declare them as infected. Source code is public and has been shared/audited on twitter etc but no formal audits that I’ve seen yet.

shakna 7y ago
> Source code is public and has been shared/audited on twitter etc but no formal audits that I’ve seen yet. I don't believe that's true. There is certainly decompiled code floating around, but release of the code has been delayed whilst the Signals Directorate investigate the app. [0] Worth noting that decompiling the app to see if it actually does what it says it does is a crime under the legislation backing it. > Agreed. The PIA and source code will be released subject to consultation with the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre. [0] https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2020/04/covidsafe-application-privacy-impact-assessment-agency-response.pdf https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2020...
aaron695 7y ago
I've decompiled the app for android and had a look over the source and what you say isn't true. The rolling ID doesn't work so 3rd parties can track you. Source code has not been released at all. It does not work in iOS I think is a fair statement. It won't until Apple do the update. It does not check the 'proximity to infected people'. All data processing is done by a human. The app just dumps all your info. All interactions with other phones with the app to a human. Then then work out times and if the person was 'close' So this is why I've asked the question. Surely someone on HN has made an android/iOS app and can comment. It would have to be around a phone Bluetoothing to a phone.