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How to Disable COVID-19 Exposure Notifications in iOS 13.5
MacRumors ^ | 4/29/2020 | Juli Clover

Posted on 05/21/2020 3:11:30 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants

Apple in iOS 13.5 is introducing an exposure notification API designed to allow apps created by public health authorities worldwide to notify people who come into contact with someone who has COVID-19 about their exposure to the virus.

Apple's Exposure Notification feature is privacy focused and shares no personally identifiable information or location data with the public health authorities creating the apps, but some users may want to opt out of the feature, which is enabled by default when upgrading to iOS 13.5.

Apple in the iOS 13.5 update added a toggle to disable COVID-19 Exposure Notifications for those who do not want to participate and do not want to be notified should they come into contact with someone who has COVID-19. Here's how to get to it:

Open the Settings app.
Scroll down and tap on Privacy.
Tap on Health.
Tap on COVID-19 Exposure Notifications.
Tap the toggle to turn the feature off.

The purpose of the exposure notification system is to limit the spread of COVID-19 as much as possible by informing people who have been exposed so they can self-isolate and get recommendations from their local health authorities. Because it works by allowing two smartphones to interface with one another using random identifier beacons and Bluetooth, it works best when most people have it turned on.

Re-enabling Exposure Notifications can be done by following the steps above and tapping the toggle to turn the feature back on. If the toggle is green, it's on, and if the toggle is gray, it's off.

iOS 13.5 is available in a beta capacity at the current time, and there won't be apps that take advantage of Exposure Notifications until the update is released. Receiving Exposure Notifications also requires downloading an app from a public health organization that uses the API and agreeing to its terms and conditions. Simply having the toggle turned on won't do anything without the app.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 1984; bigbrother; contacttracing; leavemealone; masssurveillance; notracking; spying; unauthorized
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To: Grandpa Drudge

And I call it a sham because I have not been able to find anywhere even any attempt to answer my two questions.


21 posted on 05/21/2020 6:03:26 PM PDT by Grandpa Drudge (Just an old man, desperate to preserve our great country for my grandchildren.)
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To: Grandpa Drudge

Since the download link to that pdf is hard to find, here it is:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/php/principles-contact-tracing-booklet.pdf


22 posted on 05/21/2020 6:13:53 PM PDT by Grandpa Drudge (Just an old man, desperate to preserve our great country for my grandchildren.)
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To: catnipman

I said I don’t want to be tracked. If they can’t track me, they can’t notify me.

This thread is about disabling iphone Covid notifications

I want to disable the tracking and I am asking how to do that.


23 posted on 05/21/2020 6:21:35 PM PDT by Freedom_Is_Not_Free (What profits a man if he gains the world but loses his soul?)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

So if I delete the healh app, then they can’t track me at all? I find that hard to believe. I am under the assumpion there is nothing I can do to prevent the government and corporations from tracking me on via iphone even when it is turned off.

What am I missing here?


24 posted on 05/21/2020 6:22:59 PM PDT by Freedom_Is_Not_Free (What profits a man if he gains the world but loses his soul?)
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To: Freedom_Is_Not_Free

So far, that is what is required. I also believe that the government will track us if they want.


25 posted on 05/21/2020 6:55:09 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Tyrants don't just give you your freedoms back. You have to take them.)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

26 posted on 05/21/2020 7:03:58 PM PDT by deks
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To: Grandpa Drudge

I found a link with a good explanation of this app.

https://www.macrumors.com/guide/exposure-notification/

Now the question is what percentage of infected people will actually participate, and will that have any impact on the continued spread of the disease?

I suspect very little, if any.


27 posted on 05/21/2020 7:36:55 PM PDT by Grandpa Drudge (Just an old man, desperate to preserve our great country for my grandchildren.)
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To: Blood of Tyrants
They can kiss my bloody arse. I'm ready to go back to DOS-based games and VHS tapes for entertainment, and one of those flip phones if I need to call my wife. I got a Pentium III laptop running XP SP3 at a glacial pace, and I'll use it.
28 posted on 05/21/2020 8:26:23 PM PDT by Viking2002 (Why should I walk into the great unknown, when I can sit here, and throw my bones?)
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To: Blood of Tyrants; ~Kim4VRWC's~; 1234; 5thGenTexan; AbolishCSEU; Abundy; Action-America; ...
Instructions on how to turn off the COVID19 warnings about social distancing in iOS 13.5. It’s easy to do and is not mandatory. —PING!


Apple iOS 13.5 Settings to Turn Off
COVID19 Social Distancing Warnings!
PING!

If you want on or off the Apple/Mac/iOS Ping List, Freepmail me.

29 posted on 05/21/2020 8:34:22 PM PDT by Swordmaker (My pistol self-identifies as an iPad, so you must accept it in gun-free zones, you hoplophobe bigot!)
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To: Blood of Tyrants; ~Kim4VRWC's~; 1234; 5thGenTexan; AbolishCSEU; Abundy; Action-America; ...
Instructions on how to turn off the COVID19 warnings about social distancing in iOS 13.5. It’s easy to do and is not mandatory. —PING!


Apple iOS 13.5 Settings to Turn Off
COVID19 Social Distancing Warnings!
PING!

If you want on or off the Apple/Mac/iOS Ping List, Freepmail me.

30 posted on 05/21/2020 8:34:29 PM PDT by Swordmaker (My pistol self-identifies as an iPad, so you must accept it in gun-free zones, you hoplophobe bigot!)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

Thanks for posting this.


31 posted on 05/21/2020 8:35:47 PM PDT by Swordmaker (My pistol self-identifies as an iPad, so you must accept it in gun-free zones, you hoplophobe bigot!)
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To: Secret Agent Man
Don’t think they aren’t keeping a list of those who have turned it off.

Apple does not track such data.

32 posted on 05/21/2020 8:39:31 PM PDT by Swordmaker (My pistol self-identifies as an iPad, so you must accept it in gun-free zones, you hoplophobe bigot!)
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To: exDemMom
I’m pretty sure that by taking my iPad with me when I go shopping, I’m probably giving out all kinds of information on my location.

I saw a video where a guy used people’s location data that they were posting themselves and tracking them down to ask questions about stuff they had themselves posted on twitter, Facebook, etc. He was trying to illustrate just how careless a lot of people are with their personal information. Some of them were really mad at him, yet he had only used the information that they had willingly publicized to find them. Others were surprised, because they really had no clue.

EVERY device made today has a GPS chip in it. It’s required by law for the purposes of 911 calls. There’s no avoiding it. Your iPAd, if it’s non-cellular, is a good idea, but even if you just have a “burner” phone still has that GPS chip, even if it can’t do GPS map guidance. You call 911, they know where you are. . . But they can also still track where your phone is, because that chip location is always sent along with the tower pings.

33 posted on 05/21/2020 8:44:10 PM PDT by Swordmaker (My pistol self-identifies as an iPad, so you must accept it in gun-free zones, you hoplophobe bigot!)
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To: Freedom_Is_Not_Free

Yes. Put it in a gallon-size Baggie full of dry rice for a week.


34 posted on 05/21/2020 8:44:28 PM PDT by ALASKA (Watching an attempted coup by a thousand cuts)
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To: Jane Long

Thanks for the ping. . . I’ve pinged the list, even though according to the article it’s in Beta. It’s not. I just found it available for my iPad and am downloading it now to see what it does, etc. I’ll let everyone know how easy it is and what else I find.


35 posted on 05/21/2020 8:46:12 PM PDT by Swordmaker (My pistol self-identifies as an iPad, so you must accept it in gun-free zones, you hoplophobe bigot!)
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To: Freedom_Is_Not_Free
I don’t care if they notify me regarding Covid. I just don’t want to be TRACKED. How do I disable tracking? Is that possible? Just disabling notification doesn’t prevent me from being tracked, so my privacy is not protected just by disabling notifications.

Am I getting this right?

No matter WHAT make or type of cellular device you have, it can be tracked by the nature of the technology. It’s inherent in how cellular works. Even older 900Mhz cell phones could be tracked by triangulation of three cell towers. Now, all cellular devices are required to have a GPS chip and radio, and as part of the pinging of the towers to increase connection selection efficiency, the device’s GPS location is included in the ping. Your device is tracked down to the accuracy of that GPS’s chip accuracy. Some are more accurate than others, but all of them, including what are called “dumb” flip phones. That chip is also required for 911 cellular calls, it’s what’s required for the cellular call to be routed to the closest emergency system, and not to Podunk, Iowa, when you’re in Los Angeles.

If you want the convenience of the cellular communications, you accept the consequences and risks of being tracked. The best you can do is limit the apps that access the GPS functions and communicate them to non-authorized recipients, but that is built on the trust of the device’s maker and whose apps they allow on their devices whether that is honored or not.

36 posted on 05/21/2020 8:55:19 PM PDT by Swordmaker (My pistol self-identifies as an iPad, so you must accept it in gun-free zones, you hoplophobe bigot!)
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To: avenir
I don’t have “Health” on my iPad Air (latest gen).

I suspect that’s because iPads don’t have the health sensors and access to the AppleWatch the iPhone does. That’s likely why you won’t find that. It’s also there on iPhones for access from the lock screen for emergency purposes if you’re found non-responsive have been in an accident. People in an ER can find out necessary contact information and other health information that can help you from that health access.

37 posted on 05/21/2020 8:58:51 PM PDT by Swordmaker (My pistol self-identifies as an iPad, so you must accept it in gun-free zones, you hoplophobe bigot!)
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To: Swordmaker

So they say.

Even if they don’t, who’s to say the apps’ creators dont have something in there that’s accessible to govt sources.

Just this past week a bunch of apps were pulled off platstore and apples store that no one knew about that were actually malware searching for useful info on peoples phones and tablets. Apps that have been out there for years.

Remember the nsa’s project x-keyscore, intercepting cisco routers and putting in backdoors for accessing traffic.

It would be naive, given what does go on that is known, to simply,believe nothing will happen to this data or that no one collects it. Apple may not, but I would bet it is being collected by someone.


38 posted on 05/21/2020 9:05:25 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not Averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

The Stasi would have done anything to have this ability.


39 posted on 05/21/2020 9:09:40 PM PDT by _longranger81 (Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; defend the defenseless; care for the unloved.)
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To: Viking2002
They can kiss my bloody arse. I'm ready to go back to DOS-based games and VHS tapes for entertainment, and one of those flip phones if I need to call my wife. I got a Pentium III laptop running XP SP3 at a glacial pace, and I'll use it.

Flip phones now have the same GPS chips in them that fancy smartphones have. They have similar processors as older smartphones . . . they’re just crippled for the user. But they’re still trackable. You call 911 on a flip phone and emergency services will come right to you. They know exactly where the phone is.

40 posted on 05/21/2020 9:15:22 PM PDT by Swordmaker (My pistol self-identifies as an iPad, so you must accept it in gun-free zones, you hoplophobe bigot!)
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