You may have heard the lates catch phrase in the COVID-19 draconian measures that are being pushed on us “for our own good”: Contact Tracing. Here is why it is bad, and what you can do to stop it.
What is Contact Tracing and Why Should I Be Concerned?
On the outset, it doesn’t seem like a bad idea. Contact Tracing is finding out who a person has been in contact with once they have been confirmed to have COVID-19. In the old days, this was simply a question and answer session after you have been tested positive.
But not today.
Apple and Google have announced a partnership to tackle a more proactive approach to Contact Tracing. Yes, the brains behind Android phones and iPhones have said that they will use your phone’s gps data to determine if you have come into contact with someone that has tested positive for COVID-19. Let that sink in.
Everyone that has been labeled “paranoid” has often said that our cell phones are being used to track us. And it seems this was confirmed when CNN ran a piece about how cell phone data was used to see how Spring Breakers in Florida traveled and possible spread the coronavirus.
If that didn’t wake you up, the Apple Google partnership should.
In the guise of keeping you safe from COVID-19, your cell phone will now be used to not only track your movement, but also to track who you come into contact with.
I doubt this technology will simply disappear once the pandemic is over. Governments and law enforcement will now be able to easily squash dissent. No longer does someone need to “rat out” their contacts. Their phone will have already done that.
Why Contact Tracing Will Do No Good
More and more reports are coming out that show the entire COVID-19 pandemic was overblown and all the “lockdown” measures that were taken to stop it were un-necessary.
At the time of writing this article less then 1,000 people under the age of 50 have died from COVID-19 (out of 50,000 total US deaths). In comparison, 3,000 people under 50 have died this year from the regular old flu
The L.A. Times is reporting that antibody tests have shown that between 221,000 and 440,000 people in L.A. County have Coronavirus antibodies and have never tested positive for COVID-19. Considering L.A. County has a confirmed count of 16,000 cases and 700 deaths, if the 221,000 number of actual cases is to be correct, that means the actual mortality rate is around 0.25%
A recent interview with Swedish Epidemiologist Professor Johan Giesecke, one of the world’s most senior epidemiologists, advisor to the Swedish Government, the first Chief Scientist of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and an advisor to the director-general of the World Health Organization claims that lockdowns do not work, and are actually bad.
He also points out that COVID-19 is about as bad as a rough flu season. There is even more evidence of this when you take into account that The US government has revised its projected COVID-19 deaths down to about 60k. Meanwhile, the 2017-2018 flu season saw 80k US deaths.
So we are now trying to track you movements and who you associate with to try and stop a virus that is about equal to the flu…
How To Stop This
Over the years I have become very fond of my smart watch… but it has to go. An old fashioned wind up analog watch will have to do. My cell phone however is a different story. I use it too much. For work, for play, for simple information. However, there was a time I did not have one. If I was not at home, you left a message on the machine (before that, you left a message with whomever was home). It looks like once again people will have to start leaving me a message most of the time. Why? Because when I do not need my phone, it will be kept in a signal blocking case.
I have ordered this 2 pack of signal blocking cases from Amazon. 1 for my phone, and the other for my toll transceiver. I will take them out when I need to use them (and am in a safe place), but the rest of the time they will be protected in the case. I suggest you do the same.
You may not have anything to hide, but as we can see now with COVID-19, you don’t need to commit a crime for them to come knocking on your door… you just need to have been near someone…
Other Options
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Can a person be tracked by their smart phone when the phone is shut off??
yes. Several years ago, the government forced that technology to allow police to track abducted people, even if the abductors turned the phone off (so they say). Most people think that taking the battery out will stop the tracking (if your phone allows you to do that), however, most phones still have a backup battery to keep the date/time settings even if the battery is removed. If that backup power system also power GPS tracking or not, I do not know… but why take the chance
I CONVERTED TO A DIAL UP LANDLINE FOR THIS VERY REASON!