ABtracetogether Archives

22Nov

By thecanadianNo Comments

ABtracetogether, Business, covid alert, Government, Healthcare

British Columbia does not currently intend to adopt the COVID alert app

The Government of British Columbia does not intend to adopt the federal COVID Alert exposure notification application. CTV News reports that the provincial government has not disclosed whether it has made any progress towards adopting the app. “It has been a challenge for us. We have not reached an agreement. It is not at the point where it would be useful for what we are handling here in BC for our pandemic right now, "said BC health official Bonnie Henry. Calls for the province to adopt the app are likely to increase as the rise in infections in recent weeks continues to rise. BC and Alberta are the only provinces that have not yet adopted the app. Alberta Prime Minister Jason Kenney has rejected the COVID Alert app. Ken...

17Nov

By thecanadianNo Comments

ABtracetogether, alberta, Business, covid alert, COVID-19, Government

Alberta’s ‘ABTraceTogether’ app has been used to track just 20 cases since May

Alberta's COVID-19 tracking app 'ABTraceTogether' has been used to track just 20 cases since it was launched six months ago. The provincial government has revealed that it has been downloaded more than 260,000 times. The Alberta government has also slightly downgraded previous claims that it had resolved issues with the iOS version of the app with a recent update. You have recognized that problems can persist when the application runs in the background on iPhones. the CBC notes Experts have said that the problem can only be solved if Apple changes the way its operating system grants permission to third-party applications. Apple's restrictions are in place as a safety and battery saving measure, and it would be highly unlikely th...

8Nov

By thecanadianNo Comments

ABtracetogether, alberta, Apps & Games, covid alert, News

Alberta Prime Minister Rejects Federal COVID Alert Exposure Notification App

Alberta Prime Minister Jason Kenney has rejected the federal government's COVID Alert exposure notification app. Kenney is encouraging Albertans to download the province's ABTraceTogether app. He stated that the province no longer plans to log into the COVID Alert app because ABTraceToegther is more helpful in stopping the spread of the virus. “This has nothing to do with whether you are federal or provincial. ABTraceTogether is, in our opinion, simply a better and more effective public health tool, ”Kenney told reporters on November 6. "Currently Alberta will not adopt the federal COVID alert app because a condition of doing so would be to shut down the ABTraceTogether app, which is a key part of our contact tracing system." Pri...

9Aug

By thecanadianNo Comments

ABtracetogether, Apps & Games, covid alert, News

Alberta switches to federal COVID alert app nationwide

Alberta will switch from its provincial app 'ABTraceTogether' to the federal COVID alert app nationwide, as first reported The balloon and the mail. ABTraceTogether was first launched in the province on May 1 and was the first of its kind to be launched in the country. The app was based on a similar app that was created in Singapore. Use Bluetooth to identify other smartphones with the application installed within a radius of two meters. It encrypts that data and stores it on users' phones. There were some problems with the application. For example, it only worked on iPhones if the app was kept open and the phone was unlocked. Last month, Alberta Prime Minister Jason Kennedy had stated that the federal government was getting in...

9Aug

By thecanadianNo Comments

ABtracetogether, Apps & Games, covid alert, News

Alberta switches to federal COVID alert app nationwide

Alberta will switch from its provincial app 'ABTraceTogether' to the federal COVID alert app nationwide, as first reported The balloon and the mail. ABTraceTogether was first launched in the province on May 1 and was the first of its kind to be launched in the country. The app was based on a similar app that was created in Singapore. Use Bluetooth to identify other smartphones with the application installed within a radius of two meters. It encrypts that data and stores it on users' phones. There were some problems with the application. For example, it only worked on iPhones if the app was kept open and the phone was unlocked. Last month, Alberta Prime Minister Jason Kennedy had stated that the federal government was getting in...

14Jul

By thecanadianNo Comments

ABtracetogether, alberta, Business, Canada, contact tracing, federal government, Government

Alberta premier claims feds blocking fix for ‘ABTraceTogether’ privacy issues

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney accused the federal government of preventing the province from working with Apple and Google to improve its contact tracing app. “Unfortunately, the government of Canada has told Google and Apple not to work with the government of Alberta — or other provincial governments — on improving the TraceTogether app,” Kenney said during a press conference, as reported by . Kenney’s comments come after Alberta’s privacy commissioner released a report citing privacy concerns with the province’s contact tracing app. Called ‘ABTraceTogether,’ the app uses Bluetooth to identify other nearby smartphones with the app and log contact between people. The platform can help Alberta Health track the spread of COVID-19. However, late last week, Alberta’s privacy commissioner...

10Jul

By thecanadianNo Comments

ABtracetogether, Alberta privacy commissioner, Business, Privacy & Cloud, Security, security risk

Alberta privacy commissioner calls province’s contact tracing app a ‘security risk’

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta (OIPC) reviewed Alberta’s smartphone app for tracking COVID-19 and found it could be a security risk if used on an Apple device. The app, called ‘ABTraceTogether,’ launched in early May and allowed Albertans to track contact with others over Bluetooth. ABTraceTogether uses a similar system to the system created by Apple and Google. It uses Bluetooth to trade codes between nearby phones. When someone tests positive for COVID-19, they can upload the codes through the app, which alerts other users who were in close contact with the infected person. Information and Privacy Commissioner Jill Clayton told Global News that although Alberta Health was mindful of privacy an...