Contact Tracing

Singapore bolsters Bluetooth contact-tracing as new COVID wave sends students and workers home again

TraceTogether app becomes primary tracking tool and compulsory in many settings

Security17 May 2021 |

Singapore seeks freer international data flows to boost post-COVID-19 growth

City-state also deploys new contact tracing boxes at entrances to public places

Legal18 Mar 2021 | 4

MPs slam UK's £22bn Test and Trace programme for failing to provide evidence that it slows COVID pandemic

'Most wasteful and inept public spending programme of all time'

Software10 Mar 2021 | 111

Japan’s COVID-19 contact-tracing app hasn't warned users of encounters with carriers since September

Android edition just didn’t do the job and Health Ministry knew it. Now Japan is in its third and nastiest wave of infections

Software05 Feb 2021 | 62

Singapore changes the rules and will now use COVID-19 contact-tracing app data in criminal cases

Privacy policy re-written, which is somewhat scary given Singapore has made trackers just-about-mandatory

Security05 Jan 2021 | 26

Australia to track coronavirus encounters with payment card records

Plan calls to link government data across jurisdictions, even sharing airline records to track outbreaks and people who may be at risk of infection

Security16 Nov 2020 | 33

Indian government labels itself ‘evasive’ over privacy details of national COVID-19 contact-tracing app

Smacks down Information Commission by pointing to policy and data revealing the app has probably helped quite a lot

Software29 Oct 2020 | 1

Much like the British on holiday, NHS COVID-19 app refuses to work with phones using unsupported languages

Issue affects Android devices but fix said to be imminent

Software28 Oct 2020 | 48

NHS COVID-19 contact tracing app is leaving some unable to access government self-isolation grants

'That button is there on the app' says minister. How many times have you heard a client make wild claims about functionality?

Software23 Oct 2020 | 45

UK privacy watchdog confirms probe into NHS England COVID-19 app after complaints of spammy emails, texts

Exclusive Officials say it was a 'matter of public health importance to encourage people to download the app'

Security01 Oct 2020 | 110

England's COVID-tracking app finally goes live after 6 months of work – including backpedal on how to handle data

Just in time for the second wave and new movement restrictions

Software24 Sep 2020 | 222

UK Parliament's human rights committee pushes for better protections of coronavirus contact-tracing data in law

Decentralised app rolling out soon, but manual process remains problematic

Security22 Sep 2020 | 15

Singapore to test compulsory COVID-tracker usage as condition of entry to some venues

Wearable tracker now being distributed for those who don’t fancy smartphone surveillance

Legal15 Sep 2020 | 13

COVID-19 tracing without an app? There's an iOS and Android update for that

Google and Apple's new 'Exposure Notifications Express' gives health authorities a shortcut

Software02 Sep 2020 | 65

India's contact-tracing app grows an API to share health status info with businesses

Users who opt-in will share COVID encounter info with the boss, in the name of returning the economy to a more normal footing

Software24 Aug 2020 | 5

Dido 'Queen of Carnage' Harding to lead UK's Institute for Health Protection because Test and Trace went so well

Oh, that's right. It was a farce

Legal18 Aug 2020 | 128

You think the UK coronavirus outbreak was bad? Just wait till winter: Study shows test-and-trace system is failing

Modelling suggests massive second wave without major improvements

Legal04 Aug 2020 | 179

Linux Foundation starts new group to build pandemic-popping software

Decentralised contact-tracing apps from Ireland and Canada are first off the rank

Software21 Jul 2020 | 20

UK.gov admits it has not performed legally required data protection checks for COVID-19 tracing system

No evidence of data being used unlawfully, says health department

Security20 Jul 2020 | 99

Baroness Dido Harding lifts the lid on the NHS's manual contact tracing performance: 'We contact them up to 10 times over a 36-hour period'

Some of them will be feeling very ill and won’t pick up the phone and return the call. Ahem...

Legal06 Jul 2020 | 54

Germany is helping the UK develop its COVID-19 contact-tracing app, says ambassador

Deutschland, uber alle allies

Software01 Jul 2020 | 97

Former UK Labour deputy leader wants to know how the NHS's contact-tracing app will ensure user privacy

This is the Apple-Google API one, not the 'world-beating' one

Security24 Jun 2020 | 51

No surprise: Britain ditches central database model for virus contact-tracing apps in favour of Apple-Google API

Plus: Tech contracts dished out reportedly worth £108m

Software18 Jun 2020 | 83

Bricks and mortar chemists take down Indian contact-tracing website

On grounds that it favoured online chemists in a nation that forbids online drug sales

Software18 Jun 2020 | 8

Singapore already planning version 2.0 contact-tracing wearable

Contract awarded for 300,000 units and another tender has been issued

Science17 Jun 2020 | 7

Australia's contact-tracing app still basically borked on iOS, says new bug report – and GAPPLE API version tested

On the upside, it's been used to trace contacts about 30 times and downloaded six million times

Software16 Jun 2020 | 11

Germany prepares to launch COVID-19 contact-tracing app 'this week' while UK version stuck in development hell

Though decentralised Deutsche effort hasn't been without problems either

Software15 Jun 2020 | 46

In Hancock's half-hour, Dido Harding offers hollow laughs: Cake distracts test-and-trace boss at UK COVID-19 briefing

Comment Ex-TalkTalk CEO fails to convince public everything's going swimmingly

Software12 Jun 2020 | 109

Singapore to distribute wearable contact-tracing device and won't rule out making it compulsory

Because not everyone has a smartphone and Apple devices remain problematic

Security09 Jun 2020 | 10

GSMA suggests mobile carriers bake contact-tracing into their own apps – if governments ask for it

Working group already probing Bluetooth performance on myriad devices to help developers

Networks04 Jun 2020 | 10

As the US maybe gets serious about coronavirus-tracking apps, Congress wakes up to the privacy risks

Just what will happen to all that tasty location and contact data?

Personal Tech02 Jun 2020 | 18

Privacy activists prep legal challenge against UK plan to keep coronavirus contact-tracing data for two decades

It's too long a retention period, say digital rights campaigners

Legal01 Jun 2020 | 33

Laughing UK health secretary launches COVID-19 Test and Trace programme with glitchy website and no phone app

Hilarious

Software28 May 2020 | 101

India said its coronavirus contact-tracing app is perfect... adds bug bounty and open-sources it anyway

As the legalese changes to extend data retention period

Security27 May 2020 | 1

Contact-tracing app may become a permanent fixture in major Chinese city

Hangzhou wants a 'health and immunity firewall'

Security26 May 2020 | 14

Former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman calls on UK govt to legally protect data from contact-tracing apps

'We don't want the system to rely on the individual integrity of any minister, ministerial team, or government'

Security20 May 2020 | 70

Australians can demand visitors to their homes run contact-tracing app

As opposition MP criticises slow and incomplete source code release, saying 'Public health messaging shouldn't require citizens to follow GitHub forks'

Legal13 May 2020 | 10

NHS contact-tracing app is best in the world, says VMware CEO... whose company helped build it

Virtzilla prepares to re-open some offices next week for staff who are willing to leave home

Software12 May 2020 | 74

India releases data-use protocols for its contact-tracing app... after five weeks and 100 million downloads

Cart, meet horse, and you can both worry about 180-day data retention

Security12 May 2020 | 4

Contact-tracing is basically CRM so we think we've got it sorted, says Salesforce

Coming real soon now as-a-service. Details on data collection and price? Coming soon, promise

Software05 May 2020 | 3

India makes contact-tracing app compulsory in viral hot zones despite most local phones not being smart

Tech minister says app is 'foolproof'! We imagine Black Hats probably don't agree. And some may have time on their hands at present

Security04 May 2020 | 41

Singapore to require smartphone check-ins at all businesses and will log visitors' national identity numbers

Even parks and train stations encouraged to use QR codes. Which may show the limits of Bluetooth contact-tracing!

Security04 May 2020 | 36

India to build contact-tracing app for feature phones that still use 2G, don't have Bluetooth and can't run apps

There's hundreds of millions in India alone

Software30 Apr 2020 | 14

Australian contact-tracing app leaks telling info and increases chances of third-party tracking, say security folks

Phone model recorded, unique ID infrequently refreshed – but Atlassian's Mike Cannnon-Brookes says use it and two million peeps agree

Security28 Apr 2020 | 19

Apple and Google tweak key bits of contact-tracing privacy plan

As European nations back decentralised plan that leaves data on the device until users call in sick

Security27 Apr 2020 | 21

Australia's contact-tracing app regulation avoids 'woolly' principles in comparable cyber-laws, say lawyers

COVIDSafe application lands for Android, iOS – sans source code

Security27 Apr 2020 | 57

You have one job, Australian PM tells contact-tracing app, and that’s talking to medicos

Still no definitive word on open sourcing or how it will solve Singapore's Apple problem

Legal23 Apr 2020 | 13

Contact-tracing or contact sport? Defections and accusations emerge among European COVID-chasing app efforts

Debate seems to centre over where data needs to reside to get the job done

Security20 Apr 2020 | 39

Indian city floats camera-packing surveillance balloon to zoom in on quarantine-quitters

As Prime Minister calls on citizens to inspire adoption of contact-tracing app

Legal15 Apr 2020 | 4

Wanted: An exit strategy from the overt surveillance of smartphone contact tracing

Comment It’s open source. It will be abused. So we need to design a way out before we dive in

Legal14 Apr 2020 | 55