Coronavirus (OLD)

[Carth]

Seems an awful lot of time and effort is being put into something that (IMO) isn't going to be any better than the current 'self isolation' procedure already in place.

Currently, if you think you have the symptoms you self isolate (and hopefully contact people you've been around)

With the app (from what I can see), you have to correctly and accurately input your symptoms then wait for a test kit. When the test is identified as positive, your phone tells everyone you have it . . . if everyone has the app running constantly.

It all seems very hit & miss to me, like buying something cheap off Ebay and hoping it works when it arrives

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by Carth

(and hopefully contact people you've been around)

How do you contact the random people you sat near on the bus?

[Carth]

Originally Posted by spiderplant

How do you contact the random people you sat near on the bus?

Fair point, although why you'd sit 'near' people on a bus is another matter

How many on the bus were carriers with no symptoms?

Originally Posted by Chris

Initial independent testing by labs running jailbroken iPhones suggests that the NHS contact tracing app developers have indeed found a way round the issues many claimed would prevent the app running effectively in the background for any length of time.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52579547

The NHS has now released the app's source code on GitHub, so further independent scrutiny can occur over the weekend.

That's good news.

---------- Post added at 13:36 ---------- Previous post was at 13:35 ----------

Originally Posted by spiderplant

How do you contact the random people you sat near on the bus?

You don't - the app/server does.

[pip08456]

Originally Posted by Hugh

You don;t - the app does.

Read post 3061.

[mrmistoffelees]

Originally Posted by Chris

Initial independent testing by labs running jailbroken iPhones suggests that the NHS contact tracing app developers have indeed found a way round the issues many claimed would prevent the app running effectively in the background for any length of time.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52579547

The NHS has now released the app's source code on GitHub, so further independent scrutiny can occur over the weekend.

So all people have to do to get the iOS app to work is jailbreak their device?

That’s possibly the most ridiculous testing strategy I’ve heard

I can see Apple being incredibly impressed

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by mrmistoffelees

So all people have to do to get the iOS app to work is jailbreak their device?

That’s possibly the most ridiculous testing strategy I’ve heard

I can see Apple being incredibly impressed

It doesn't have to be jailbroken to use it, but it does if people(eg app developers, researchers) need to look behind the scenes at exactly what is going on.

And preliminary tests by a cyber-security company suggest it has succeeded.
Pen Test Partners installed the app on a handful of "jailbroken" iPhones - altered to allow them to monitor activity normally hidden from users.

Originally Posted by mrmistoffelees

So all people have to do to get the iOS app to work is jailbreak their device?

That’s possibly the most ridiculous testing strategy I’ve heard

I can see Apple being incredibly impressed

Did you not actually bother to read the article?

The research company used jail broken phones because it allowed them to monitor the way the app worked and how phones responded to Bluetooth detection. At no point does it suggest the app worked better because the test devices were jail broken.

[mrmistoffelees]

Originally Posted by Chris

Did you not actually bother to read the article?

The research company used jail broken phones because it allowed them to monitor the way the app worked and how phones responded to Bluetooth detection. At no point does it suggest the app worked better because the test devices were jail broken.

Nope, I read your post only. Apologies.

I wonder how long it will be before Apple & Google "fix" whatever allows them to get round their restrictions.

[mrmistoffelees]

Originally Posted by Paul

I wonder how long it will be before Apple & Google "fix" whatever allows them to get round their restrictions.

I think the problem is mainly at the Apple side. From what i remember of the report i read two iphones with the app in the background couldnt talk to each other, only when an Android handset came into play could they start communicating.

[pip08456]

Originally Posted by mrmistoffelees

I think the problem is mainly at the Apple side. From what i remember of the report i read two iphones with the app in the background couldnt talk to each other, only when an Android handset came into play could they start communicating.

I think you need to read the report again.

Originally Posted by Paul

I wonder how long it will be before Apple & Google "fix" whatever allows them to get round their restrictions.

I remain skeptical it'll work at a large scale. We'll need to see what people who've gone though the source code have found out.

The problem remains that iOS doesn't allow apps to broadcast out in the background. It listens but it doesn't send. The theory was that the developers used this to allow Android phones to 'wake' the iPhones again by asking them to do something.

Maybe the developers have found a way to do this with iOS apps too but that would essentially mean they're using a dodgy workaround to make iPhones ping each other, keeping the app alive, allowing them to ping for a bit longer. In other words it depends on a critical mass of phones constantly pinging each other to stay alive, the app will consistently be on the verge of terminating.

So in real world use the questions will be if this can hold up when moving in and out of range constantly, if airplane mode will terminate it, if iOS moves it out of memory if it backgrounds for too long, how often the app needs to be opened and so on.

If they really have found a solution that works credit to them and I doubt Apple will patch it out just yet as the PR would be damaging. However anyone building on a loophole in the system should expect that loophole to be closed either intentionally on unintentional.

[heero_yuy]

El Gov. have a history of IT projects that end in failure so I don't expect the mould to be broken.

[jfman]

Originally Posted by pip08456

That's her problem not ours. As and when restrictions are lifted throughout the country she is the one who has to explain to the scots why not. I doubt many would agree with her.

I look forward to the UK Government being held up to the same scrutiny and have to explain the decisions it took, especially if easing the restrictions results in substantially more infections and deaths.