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The Federal government has developed a smartphone app that uses Bluetooth to track possible Covid exposures before symptoms appear. According to the link below, without exchanging info on location, name, health info or phone contacts, phones with the app exchange random codes with other phones in proximity with the app installed. That history is used to identify exposures in the event a user reports testing positive. If you’ve been near a diagnosed case in a 14 day period you’ll get a notification.  
 
Link below has more details on how codes are used and that they can’t be used to identify you.  
 
So far Saskatchewan, Nfld, Ontario, New Brunswick. People in other provinces like Manitoba would still be able to use if they come into contact with a case from the above province, though as of now Manitoba positive cases are not able to be reported in the system.  
 
Is this something you would consider using if available for reported cases in Manitoba?  
 
Link is:  
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/covid-alert.html

nothing is save from hackers in today's world

If everybody is forced to use it then I would, otherwise probably not.

How would you force everyone to use it. There’s still a percentage of the population that don’t have cell phones. So how would they use the ap?

No. I would stop using a cell phone if it came to that.

Agreed. If authorities can’t or won’t get a handle on cyber security problems then we need to rely on technology less as it is unsafe.

I tried using the Government of Canada's app but it only works on new cell phones.

Sure, why not? I don't see the harm, and it's a neat experiment to try out. I'm sure this won't be our only pandemic if we keep business as usual as we go forth.

I personally have no need for such an app. I would rather just continue checking the media releases for potential exposures.  
 
I make an active effort to keep my phone as locked down and private as i can. That being said, I'm fully aware as the owner of a smartphone that total privacy is far from possible. Not to mention, I only keep apps downloaded that I know I'm going to use, and use long term. This app has little value to me, especially since I can (usually) find the same information online.  
 
Besides, if I'm exposed to Covid19, there's little that this app can do for me. I already stay home unless for work/groceries, and I have been wearing a mask and social distancing since March.

I have already downloaded the app though it’s currently not very useful as there is no notification available for people in our area.  
 
The concerns about hackers are unfounded in my opinion and the suggestion of forcing the issue is ludicrous.  
 
I think we need to move forward with the assumption this is going to be with us for quite sometime. As such we need to leverage the technology we have available to us to help in bringing life as close to “normal” as we can. Both economically and socially.  
 
While the observation that not everyone has a cell phone is correct perhaps, if effective, the task of monitoring in this manner could be transferred into a smaller more focused device that could be easily manufactured and distributed.  
 
A device like this would not require all the other functions a phone offers so would be considerably cheaper to manufacture.  
 
We are not going to “stubborn “ ourselves out of this. We have to try to move forward as best we can. Right now that means masks and distance etc. But perhaps, with wide spread use, apps such as this will lead to a more balanced lifestyle for everyone.  
 
That’s my two cents.

Have had it for some time now and have a few complaints with it. If you happen to turn off Bluetooth and forget to turn it on for whatever reason it will not work. Also as you travel and cross borders it will not automatically switch to the province you are currently in, you have to manually switch it. So if your forgetful like I am you could be spending days in a province before realizing its set to wrong province.  
 
Also, for a positive test result it is dependant on the person with the positive exposure to enter a 1 time key. Are they being asked to provide this info on a positive test result or is it completely up to them? I'd guess alot of people would be afraid to admit they have a positive result and share, because if your positive you are supposed to be at home isolating regardless of province you reside. If your caught out while confirmed positive you can face some hefty fines in places.  
 
Edited by Cjford, 2020-09-22 09:04:39

Never

We don't have an app for the flu, or any other viruses so why now... through everything we have been told, have witnessed.. I just don't see what this will prove to anyone. This will give people a false sense of "protection" and it's a farce. People are still going to be asymptomatic and there's no way around that. Just pick your circles wisely, wash your hands and do your best to not spread it. We don't need an app to track who has it, if anything it makes me feel like this is just another hidden agenda that we aren't being told about. Just my opinion.

I have an old flip phone and maybe make 1 call every other month. Even if I could download it wouldn't check the phone anyway and cell phones don't work in our yard.

There are too many flaws that essentially make it ineffective and I have enough apps already.

Why not? I have a question for everybody that screams PRIVACY concerns. Do any of you use Google? Your phones collect data and spy on you already. The only way to stop this is to not use a mobile device or computer. Our data is being mined and collected on a daily basis. Haven't you ever had the coincidence of an ad popping up for something and felt your phone or computer was reading your mind? Just go with it. We are all connected by our technology already.

I was rather upset when I learned that an exposure app had been automatically uploaded to my Android phone although currently turned off. I certainly didn't do it. If "they" can automatically put that on my phone, there is nothing stopping them from automatically turning it on without my knowledge. I find this incredibly offensive but a computer programmer friend of mine advised me that I would be nuts to believe that each of us isn't being tracked 24/7 a number of different ways already.  
 
Check it yourself. If you have an Android phone, go to SETTINGS then click on GOOGLE SETTINGS, you will find it already there.  
 
If you have an Iphone, click on SETTINGS, then PRIVACY and then HEALTH.  
 
Smartphones are the equivalent of having a microchip implanted in us. Not a scare tactic, just current reality of our choices. Fewer and fewer ways around it. We all have choices, just not quite as many as some of us believe we do.  
 
Edited by JustASoul, 2020-09-22 11:35:15

Privacy and data concerns aside, I'd be interested in seeing how much this app ends up costing us.  
 
Nothing the government does comes in on or under budget, remember the gun registry that was estimated to cost 2 million and ended up over a billion, what about recent governments handling of these paycheck programs they implemented.  
 
Sure we're all being tracked and data mined behind our back on a daily basis, but why voluntarily add info to it ?

Anything that helps to keep you informed and safe I’m all for. So I do not see the issues people have with it.

I would, and currently run the Health Canada COVID tracking app.  
 
Having kept track of its development at both Apple and Google in the past few months (and thus knowing how the technology functions), I was hoping out provincial health authority would adopt the technology. But Health Canada is even better.  
 
I know that many are will are/are worried about the big brother aspect of it. However, considering that the technology is less invasive than simply carrying around a GPS and wifi-enabled smartphone during your daily routine, I'm happy to use it.  
 
Imagine you are out eating at a restaurant. Something that you may well forget about (or have a difficult time recalling the date) when keeping up with exposures 8 to 14 days from then.  
Now, consider if everyone's smartphones were recording each others auto-generated pins in the background (how the system works).

I hope Manitoba gets on the bandwagon with this. Mass embrace of this can only make the process of returning to some sense of normalcy, easier.

no problem using it if Manitoba was actually using it. I did have the app installed, but since Manitoba wasn't using it, I removed it. If your worried about being tracked, basically get off the internet and stick with land phones.

Nope, I would not use such an app.

If everyone able followed health guidelines and wore a mask, washed hands/ sanitized, social distanced and stopped acting like there isn’t a serious virus risk lurking out there. I had to go to town on Monday and was disgusted at how few people were taking precautions in stores, even those still displaying mandatory masking signs. Does everyone think that the virus will go away it they pretend that it doesn’t exist?

Adam, I don't think I would although I can certainly see the benefits of the app.

The biggest flaw of the app is that nobody seems to be using it because "reasons."  
 
I'm using it, and anyone that's done even a small amount of research knows that it does very little in the way of actually inhabiting your phone.  
 
Like we are living through an unprecedented global health crises, and the government (especially at the provincial level) has provided such unclear direction that everyone is basically being encouraged to just use their own discretion/common sense. Well, unfortunately, as we've seen, a lot of people's version of common sense is to treat this deadly virus as a joke or a hoax.  
 
Use the app. It's so unbelievably less of an invasive program than Facebook for example, and I KNOW that all of these COVID deniers or anti-app nuts are getting their info from Facebook.

I can’t speak for other people who are “anti-app”, but I can tell you that I dont have the Facebook app, I don’t get my information from Facebook, and I don’t use google products.

Have never been on Facebook and don’t intend too. Only have three apps on my phone , Ticketmaster, Weather network and a grain company marketing App. And that’s three too many!

You mean like the dozens of apps (some seen, some not) that are on you phone that you did not put there? Every time you update your phone, something is added (kind of the point). Sometimes they are hidden security apps, and the like, other times, brand new apps, that you may never use. "They" do not add it to your phone. They submit it to your phone software company (android, Apple) who then add it. Whenever an app is added to your device, it is AUTOMATICALLY with no permissions (except security fixes), unless you give it permission to do something it can not. That is how it works. Of course, if your really worried about security, throw away your phone. Throw away your computer. Never go on the net. That is the only way to be sure.

like the App will be usable for us next week.  
 
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-canada-covid-alert-app-1.5742195