Jun 10, 2020 15:00:00

Wearable 'new coronavirus contact tracking device' that does not use the Internet or GPS will be distributed in Singapore

Until around March 2020,

only 2 people were confirmed to have died of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), and Singapore has been a model for COVID-19 measures, but then COVID-19 infection The number of people is rapidly increasing and it is turning around and suffering the worst damage in Southeast Asia . Such Singapore has announced the 'new coronavirus contact tracking device' with a new approach that does not use the Internet or GPS.

Contact-tracing device will not track location; people can use TraceTogether if they prefer, says Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore News & Top Stories-The Straits Times
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/contact-tracing-device-will-not-track-location-and-people-can-use-tracetogether-if-they

Singapore looks to ease privacy fears with'no internet' wearable device | ZDNet
https://www.zdnet.com/article/singapore-looks-to-ease-privacy-fears-with-no-internet-wearable-device/

In April 2020, the Singapore government released TraceTogether , a contact tracking application using Bluetooth. According to the government's announcement, TraceTogether has 25% of the population, about 1.8 million people installed on their terminals, but it is the fact that the ideal participation rate of 75% has not reached at all. ..

by Government Technology Agency of Singapore

The reason why TraceTogether is not popular is that it works properly on iPhone etc. due to the problem that the battery life of the installed terminal is greatly shortened and the specification of iOS 'Pause Bluetooth when application becomes background' It has been pointed out that there is a problem of not doing it.

Therefore, on June 8, the Singapore government announced plans to distribute the 'Trace Together Token' to residents of Singapore as a new initiative to replace the app. Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, the minister in charge of IT business ' Smart Nation ' of the Singapore government, said at a press conference, 'I would like to emphasize especially that TraceTogether tokens do not have an electronic tag or GPS. Instead, contact detected by Bluetooth Only data is recorded and it only works for contact tracking purposes.'

The Trace Together token is a wearable device that is independent of smartphones and will be distributed to people living in Singapore one after another from the latter half of June. Also, according to Balakrishnan, it is not obligatory to carry the token even if it is distributed. However, he said that future mandates are 'unpredictable at this time,' and added some implications to the possibility of some restrictions depending on the status of COVID-19 infection and the judgment of health authorities.

There are voices of concern over privacy from Singaporeans to the government's new contact tracking efforts. An online signature site, Change.org, has launched a signature activity against the distribution of TraceTogether tokens, with 39,727 signatures at the time of writing.

In response to these concerns, Balakrishnan posted in a Facebook post: 'Thanks to everyone for their privacy concerns. I feel the same. That's why I guarantee TraceTogether tokens won't have GPS or internet connectivity. Data about the user is encrypted and deleted after 25 days, the only data available is the identification of the contact if the user is positive for the COVID-19 test. Only when there is a need to do it.'