[Reelin]

Having a standardized framework is a good thing provided it meets certain minimal security and privacy needs. The idea is to enable end users to proactively collect useful data without making the potential for government abuse any worse than it already is.

So long as all data remains on the physical device at all times and any access or export is _always_ actively initiated by the user, I don't see how it makes the current situation any worse. An abusive government can already subpoena or otherwise monitor all the network providers.

[dingaling]

> An abusive government can already subpoena or otherwise monitor all the network providers.

The advantage that this tracking proposal provides is that it unfurls contact tracing from one node. Until now, authorities have had to work from a large dataset ( all phones on a mast at a particular time ) inwards; now they can start with one node of interest and expand outwards.

Combined with some other 'temporary' pandemic measures, such as the legal requirement to carry your phone at all times, this provides a huge benefit to any authority.

[Reelin]

> such as the legal requirement to carry your phone at all times

In such a hypothetical scenario, how is making this (currently opt-in) framework mandatory any different from requiring you to install a government provided app? Such a government app could trivially log sensor and GPS data, yielding a _far_ more detailed view. The point is that the mere existence of this framework doesn't make the situation any worse than it already is.