
Apple-Google contact tracing tool now usable without state-sponsored app - blahedo
https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/9/1/21410291/apple-google-exposure-notification-express-coronavirus-covid-contact-tracing
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blahedo
At least on the Google side, I've been frustrated because the app requires the
GPS to be turned on, despite swearing up and down that it's not using the GPS
data. The Google/Android help page that explains "why" you need to turn on
Location services says that Android requires Location Services to be turned on
for the Bluetooth part to work.

Q: Hey Android, why did you force Location Services to be on for your Exposure
Notification service to work?

A: Because Android requires Location Services to be on in order for Exposure
Notification to work.

I did not find their explanation very compelling.

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skygazer
It's not that it uses GPS, it's that Bluetooth may leak location. Location may
be trivially determined from the list of nearby Bluetooth devices when
compared to a database of Bluetooth devices with known locations, and so they
tied Bluetooth permissions with Location permissions.

