France wants Apple to roll back an iOS privacy feature that limits apps constantly using Bluetooth in the background, saying it interferes with contact tracing apps (via Bloomberg).
Blocking Background Bluetooth
France is aiming to release its contact tracing app by May 11. The hope is that this technology can help governments reopen society because it alerts people if they have been in contact with an infected person. Apple and Google’s partnership on Bluetooth-based contact tracing will result in a software update also coming in May.
A major concern however is that France, along with the EU, want the data from these apps to be sent to a central server, a move that researchers fear will help government surveillance efforts. On Monday over 300 scientists and researchers signed an open letter expressing these concerns.
We are concerned that some ‘solutions’ to the crisis may, via mission creep, result in systems which would allow unprecedented surveillance of society at large.
Further Reading
[Disagreement Over How to Proceed with European Coronavirus Contact Apps]
[Apple Partners With Google on Contact Tracing Technology to Track Coronavirus Spread]
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