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Comment by onion2k | Hacker News Reader

If this gets any sort of public traction it'll be built in to shop doorways, public transport, police cars, and street lights within a couple of months.

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Yeah, in a new york minute. This is already built into iOS in their newer Find My Phone. The carriers also know who and where we are just need to add in covid testing data. The problem is that even if it is decentralized and OSS, then the average user can't/won't install it. If it is simple and easy (centralized), then it becomes a honey pot for the government.

Carriers know where we are, are you referring to triangulation?

Yeah, they know what towers you are hitting.

Tower info plus other sources. A while back I couldn't stop my iPhone from connecting to the 'free' Orange WiFi at my mall.

Since signal is weak I enabled 'WiFi calling' which also shares location info with the carrier (so they know if you are roaming or not, presumably).

Can you please explain or give a link, how can I use Find My Phone for anything coronavirus-related?

You can't, but apparently Find My Phone uses Bluetooth to find nearby phones and thats the same technology that Bluetooth contact tracing for coronavirus would use.

You can use changing IDs and publish ID history (or ID generator seed) for confirmed cases.

I was under the impression many private sector companies have already deployed these tools.

Just a matter of companies buying/implementing them.

Yes, visit tracking has been around for years. Here is one product (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6100636?hl=en), I assume there are many more.

I guess it's not more well-known because it's not in the stores interests to publicize it.

Any idea how it works? The site is not very helpful in that manner.

Probably the same way that Google Maps traffic or “this restaurant is busy now” indications work.

Presumably using Bluetooth beacons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth_low_energy_beacon

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