Security News > 2020 > May > COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps: Effective Virus Risk Management Tools or Privacy Nightmare?
The success of contact tracing apps will then depend on the overall active uptake by users, and whether the big data analysts have got their figures right.
"Numerous vulnerabilities have been discovered like BlueFrag, which affected IOS and Android." He also warns, "Contact tracing apps need to be regularly tested for vulnerabilities and critical updates must be deployed immediately. These apps must also be prohibited from activating smart assistants. People must limit the location settings to run only when approved and when in use."
Privacy is the biggest single concern raised over the contact tracing apps.
Joseph Carson, chief security scientist and advisory CISO at Thycotic, said, "The problem I have is that once you start in this direction it's hard to reverse it. We may not care that much at the minute, but some countries' use of contact tracing apps could end up sacrificing our personal privacy rights long-term for the sake of surveillance use as a convenient solution to a short-term pandemic."
The long-term danger of contact tracing apps is that they might normalize the concept of mobile phone based total government surveillance 'for the greater good'.