
Ask HN: Social Distance App – count unique Bluetooth mac addresses - andrewfromx
Should we scramble and get live in app store (and play store) a simple app that counts the number of unique bluetooth mac addresses your phone sees each day? i.e. the lower number, the better you are doing at social distancing. And then make it social and like a game, leader boards etc. This app can save lives?
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Kaze404
Recent Android and iOS versions report false, randomized Bluetooth addresses
to prevent exactly that.

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Doxin
You can still count them, even though you can't associate a bluetooth address
with a specific device.

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muzani
All car radios have Bluetooth addresses and even some watches and headphones.
We've had a breakout in a village nearby, 1 hour drive from our town. There's
little Bluetooth there. Most people still don't use broadband and rely on live
TV for media and entertainment. But those places are usually the least aware
of safety precautions.

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zabana
this is the most dystopic thing I've read in a while. I'm interested to see if
it works though.

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tastroder
Related, from a few days ago
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22514584](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22514584)
"Can we stop Covid-19 using Bluetooth?"

While this seems like a somewhat more sensible idea in terms of privacy, all
the same technical restrictions apply.

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andrewfromx
i think for version 1.0 of this app it can be honor system of entering your
number and getting into the daily habit of noticing how many people you come
within 6 feet of each day. We can add the bluetooth/wifi/wigle.net stuff too
but it won't be perfect. I started landing page at
[https://socialdistance.app/](https://socialdistance.app/)

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sleet
Have a look at CoEpi: [https://www.coepi.org/](https://www.coepi.org/)

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zenexer
This probably isn’t going to work well for people in apartments or condos, but
it would be interesting nonetheless.

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oyebenny
It's called Wiggle.

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andrewfromx
link?

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mathackernews
[https://wigle.net/](https://wigle.net/)

