Canada's Covid-tracing app

[dagibbs]

Canada's Covid-contact tracing app is now available. TLDR: I recommend installing & running it.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details…

They're description of the privacy looks ok, though I don't know the details of the implementation (the install doesn't ask for a bunch of unfortunate stuff, at least).

But, as I understand it, Blackberry did a bunch of the work on the security side of this, especially scrutinizing it for security and privacy vulnerabilities... and I'd actually trust us to do a pretty good job on that stuff. So, yeah, as apps go, it is probably pretty trustworthy.

I, personally, worry more about having Bluetooth active on my phone. If you're happy doing that (or do it already for head phones, or whatever), I think this should be fine.

But, I, also, consider contact-tracing important enough that I have installed this, and opened up Bluetooth on my phone.

Comments

[dagibbs]

https://twitter.com/BlackBerry/status/1273657975027228678...
Tweet
BlackBerry
blackberry
·
Jun 18
We commend the Governments of Canada and Ontario for their collaboration on the COVID-19 exposure application announced today. We're honored to partner with our government leaders in this public health effort – by providing our security and privacy expertise to review the app.

[kd5mdk]

I presume it uses the Google contact tracing API? Everything I saw about the privacy on it was good enough for me when the API was announced a few months ago.

[dagibbs]

Yes, it does use that API. But that doesn't mean the app couldn't, also, have had a lot of other privacy violations in it.

[switterbeet]

I'm pleased to hear that the privacy was so elegantly handled. I installed it awhile ago. There is something vaguely comforting about seeing the message that you haven't had any known close contacts, even though I know it really doesn't mean much since not everyone will have it installed.