I’m not a geek on these things. Maybe someone like Serk can shed more light
Yeah, we discussed these in the "Poop be getting real" megathread:
http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,109640.msg1124694.html#msg1124694What I had to say about it from there:
What you're seeing is just the OS side part, without installing a contact and trace app to go with it it does nothing.
And once said app is available, I'll be installing it. You do you.
They've taken great pains to make the system workable but NOT tracking your name, location etc...
--------------------------------------------
are you 100% sure the app does not track your name, location, etc?
why would you want to install this app and how does it really work to be effective?
Yes. It doesn't use GPS or other geo location data, it doesn't use your contact list, or anything like that.
Your phone generates a random number every 15 or so minutes and broadcasts that number so that other phones near you running the app can "hear" it, and combine their random number for that time period with your random number for that time period.
Your phone does know what numbers it has at what time, and what other numbers it "heard".
If you test positive, you tell the app that you tested positive, and that allows other phones to query the list of recent positives, combine their random number with yours to find out if you were close to that person for a set amount of time (Just passing in the grocery store won't be enough) within the last 2 weeks, and thus if you should pay extra attention, possibly get tested.
That's all it does.
Slightly deeper dive if you're interested:
https://www.wired.com/story/covid-19-contact-tracing-apple-google/