Will you go

Its not about civil liberties, not everyone carries a 'smart  phone' everywhere they go, my old phone can't load anymore Apps. Its for phone calls mainly our laptop is our contact with the internet.

but a lot do carry a smart phone & a lot of them use it to access the Interweb too  😉 

I don't have a mobile phone smart or otherwise 

Where this idea has been in use in the far east you are forced to have a smart phone with the tracking application by having to produce it when stopped by police, to buy in a shop or food outlet, travel on public transport, and many other activities.  No app = no service.

People forget that the first civil liberty is to not be harmed by others actions.

If this app is to be based on bluetooth, I think the range is quite a bit more than a couple of metres, so is our contact bubble around us going to draw in more contacts than is actually required? I don't know. I think one of the concerns is the battery drain that this app is going to consume. I like to think that cleverer people than me are sorting out all the issues relating to the containment and eradication of this virus but based on the original decisions, I'm not entirely convinced.

Try one ..... you might like it. 😉

My Dad's had a mobile since the days of the brick ...... he's 83 this year & uses his smart phone for all sorts.

I'd have thought it would use the Interweb via your 4G connection. It seems there are already various apps that can tell you the whereabouts of various other people.

Information from the Apple / Google frequently asked questions about this technology. It would seem it records signal strengths of the Bluetooth and how long the contact lasted. It doesn't say if the strength is converted to a distance.

If a user is notified through their app that they have come into contact with an individual who is positive for COVID-19 then the system will share the day the contact occurred, how long it lasted and the Bluetooth signal strength of that contact. Any other information about the contact will not be shared.

I see the Govt has now rejected the Apple/Google app in favour of a system developed by GCGQ. As far as I can tell, it seems to run in the background and uses Bluetooth.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52441428

I use the Apple "Find my Phone" to track my husband!

(not in a malicious way, just for interest if he's at the far end of the farm etc)