crriser

boredumb said:

I'm not clear how this gives any virus-specific info...in which case, it just seems like another attempted excuse to be given access to our phones.

The way this worked for Singapore and S. Korea was a combination of cell phone tracking to see who you were around AND a ton of expedited tests. This system does not work unless you can test everyone who may have been exposed pretty much immediately. So say you found out you were infected. The government then grabbed your tracking data, found every phone you came close to, then contacted that phone, most times via text. The message essentially said you have come in contact with someone who has tested positive so please report to “testing site” and get your test. You were given a tag that identified you to the test. In China you were also given a wrist band tracker that you were required to wear. If you tested positive, the whole thing started again from your phone and you stayed quarantined, using again your cell phone OR a wrist tracker to verify you stayed at home. By doing this, they quickly identified who was infected, who THEY infected and locked only those people down. In S. Korea, this method stopped the virus completely with NO social distancing or shutting down of their society. I am NOT suggesting we should do this here. Though I have been saying since reading about these instances that it would be an interesting opportunity to test just how much Americans really do care about their privacy AND if it would be the back door into our systems the government has been itching for years to get.