4 ms·

And that it is done using an ostensibly secure/traceless/anonymous algorithm so I’m not sure why it would matter.

prh8 6y ago
Well a lot of people care more about absolutism for "privacy" more than pragmatism. Quote marks since just having a cell phone is already sharing more than those anonymous tokens.
- skinnymuch 6y ago
  Not just a cell phone. But having a cell phone from the very company they fear is doing illegitimate things.
conradev 6y ago
Yes, it is functionally equivalent to having Bluetooth enabled. When Bluetooth is on, your iPhone broadcasts itself with a rotating random MAC address (a feature now called Bluetooth LE Privacy). It rotates at a fixed interval, something like every 5 minutes. With contact tracing enabled, your phone broadcasts another random identifier, and that identifier rotates at the same interval as your MAC address. The random identifier is actually cyphertext, and the key to decrypt it is stored on your phone. I think it should have been turned on by default if Bluetooth is turned on by default, but people would have complained very loudly.
- gruez 6y ago
  >When Bluetooth is on, your iPhone broadcasts itself with a rotating random MAC address (a feature now called Bluetooth LE Privacy). It rotates at a fixed interval, something like every 5 minutes. Isn't this only when the iPhone is "discoverable", which is pretty much never the case unless you have bluetooth settings open?
  - SwaraLink 6y ago
    No, iOS devices enable Bluetooth Low Energy advertising pretty much the entire time that Bluetooth is on. This is used for features such as handover and Airdrop (and now for contact tracing, if enabled).
yjftsjthsd-h 6y ago
Lots of things were supposed to be anonymous/secure, right up until it turned out that they weren't. Maybe this time is different, but I can understand a reasonable person being extremely skeptical of a system that is literally designed to track the people you're around, no matter what great promises are made about it.

prh8 6y ago

Well a lot of people care more about absolutism for "privacy" more than pragmatism. Quote marks since just having a cell phone is already sharing more than those anonymous tokens.

skinnymuch 6y ago
Not just a cell phone. But having a cell phone from the very company they fear is doing illegitimate things.

conradev 6y ago

Yes, it is functionally equivalent to having Bluetooth enabled. When Bluetooth is on, your iPhone broadcasts itself with a rotating random MAC address (a feature now called Bluetooth LE Privacy). It rotates at a fixed interval, something like every 5 minutes. With contact tracing enabled, your phone broadcasts another random identifier, and that identifier rotates at the same interval as your MAC address. The random identifier is actually cyphertext, and the key to decrypt it is stored on your phone. I think it should have been turned on by default if Bluetooth is turned on by default, but people would have complained very loudly.

gruez 6y ago
>When Bluetooth is on, your iPhone broadcasts itself with a rotating random MAC address (a feature now called Bluetooth LE Privacy). It rotates at a fixed interval, something like every 5 minutes. Isn't this only when the iPhone is "discoverable", which is pretty much never the case unless you have bluetooth settings open?
- SwaraLink 6y ago
  No, iOS devices enable Bluetooth Low Energy advertising pretty much the entire time that Bluetooth is on. This is used for features such as handover and Airdrop (and now for contact tracing, if enabled).

yjftsjthsd-h 6y ago

Lots of things were supposed to be anonymous/secure, right up until it turned out that they weren't. Maybe this time is different, but I can understand a reasonable person being extremely skeptical of a system that is literally designed to track the people you're around, no matter what great promises are made about it.