Post by MPN-MATE Admin » Mon Apr 27, 2020 10:28 am
Morning all...
Not sure how many of you have heard about the latest tool in the fight against CV-19?
Singapore, who were recently enjoying global praise for their manner of containing CV-19, are currently experiencing a 2nd wave of infections...
However, the Australian APP "COVID SAFE" being now launched by the Australian government has been picked up from the Singapore Government's – Open Share Source Technology –
Although their may have been a few more tweaks, (shall we call them?) since then, the following article illuminates upon one description of what this APP is purportedly used for, and endeavours to allay any fears on privacy concerns... I guess each of us must be the judge of that for ourselves...
The 2nd article is one from an Australian IT News provider, makes for an interesting read...
The virus will be part of all our lives until a vaccine. Contact tracing is a key to keeping the infection spread low. If you look at South Korea Singapore Taiwan and Japan they all have near normal societies. They have far fewer deaths in the tens or hundreds and people are still working, shops open. The Germans have also developed an app but l fear that most people here in Germany will not use it for fear of the reasons outlined. The choice might come down to app or big waves of infection and more lockdowns or with an app smaller manageable increases that can be quickly identified
I think laws need to be put in place that the apps cannot be used for other purposes. However l too fear that some governments will undoubtedly use them for other means if not at the outset but in the future - strange times!!
While the intent may be to deal with the pandemic, the potential for abuse of this technology is enormous. In fact, abuse of the technology is inevitable in today's world. We will each have to make an individual decision about whether the putative benefits outweigh the inevitable risks. In some ways, similar to the decision to take toxic medications to treat a cancer.
In many ways, we are already living in a surveillance society where privacy is evermore impaired. Extensive tracking is already possible with current cell phone technology. This software is just a next step that makes tracking citizens easier to do. I would predict a very low response rate here in the USA. Most people simply do not want to have their movements tracked by any government entity. Things would have to get a lot worse before compliance would become common.
Thanks for posting this somewhat 1984ish topic. All the best to you. Stay safe. Stay well. And stay free.
Thanks Steve. One of our nations founders, and a distant relative, said in various iterations "Those that would sacrifice liberty to gain safety deserve neither and will lose both." (Benjamin Franklin). Sadly many seem to forget the lessons of the past. Excess power in government will always be abused. That is the corrupting nature of power. It is why a vigorous system of checks and balances are needed to keep abuse of power in check.
But on to sunnier topics. Here in West Virginia things are gradually reopening. Hopefully people will use a modicum of common sense and we can restart the economy without a major resurgence of COVID.
The real problem is the fear mongers are achieving their desired results, and keeping the people ignorant has always been the modus operandi...
Yes, in the distant Land of Oz, they're also racing to reopen the economy, let's all hope some level of responsible caution is maintained... Otherwise, things might quickly escalate once again & get well out of hand...
I believe that here in the UK there is some talk of trialling a contact tracing system (based on a mobile 'phone app) on the Isle of Wight. (That same island, if I remember rightly, was the testing ground for water meters too, years ago.) Apparently it would need to be taken up by 40% or 50% of the population in order to be effective ... is that likely to be achieved?
My dislike for the APP has a few dimensions, most of those have already been discussed above. The latest effort by our government 'Down Under' was to say that businesses and life, (as per the old usual), will not return unless everyone takes up this APP. That type of push is akin to blackmail, and many people do not respond well to threats, irrespective of the cause, in my view...
If indeed a 2nd wave of this pandemic does affect Australia over the coming winter season, the APP would be useful to help close down any potential cluster before it has gone too far, well at least I suppose that is the theory... (?)
There are potentially some great dangers here with a total loss of freedoms and privacy, and an Orwellian future might indeed loom large...
Too many people, in the Uk, are not following the the social distancing rules. I personally think, under these circumstances the app is a good idea. It will only work if over 50% of the population download the app. I think it's a good way for employers to get their staff back to work. My concern is. The UK have a track record of poor organisational skills. If contact isn't made, after the text message from this app,then who will follow this up. It took me 28emails and 50 phones calls to eventually receive a supermarket slot. Will people get paid if their app says stay at home? Many questions with no answers as yet.
Yes, there are a great many ... '... let's call them new learning curves...' to be considered here.
Implementation, is a hard thing to follow, when many people are frightened and driven by fear... I simply don't agree with this type of approach, I guess...
You may be right...
There are too many unknowns surrounding all of this at present, clarity is required, and I agree, that is especially so when it comes to communicating the message!
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