ABtracetogether Archives

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...