Omicron: Israel bans all foreigners, uses 'counter-terrorism' phone-tracking (opens in new tab)

(usnews.com)

46 pointsjetanoia4y ago11 comments

11 comments

how would 'counter-terrorism' phone-tracking strategies be employed for containment?...

are they actively recording all phones GPS movements so that later when someone tests positive for Omicron, they work back through that GPS database to see who else might have been exposed?

or perhaps screening text messages from telcos to identify symptomatic hotspots that will be pursued with 'random testing'?

or... ?

there must be countless ways to such tracking but I'm curious what methods are most likely, how broad is the scope (looking to identify individuals vs broader trends), and finally, what actions might they take? (forced quarantine, etc.)

plmpsu4y ago

As far as I can tell, they're collecting cellular data on all of us constantly and when someone tests positive, they match that cell to all those who were in its vacinity during the past x days. I.e., this is more of a 'flipping a switch' for a cell model (hoping that a switch exists...).

Once you're cell is matched, you get an SMS stating the fact and that you should self quarantine (pending time or tests, not sure). Someone might check up on you to make sure you're quarantining and if police check your details when walking outside they'll issue a 5000nis fine.

fy204y ago

How granular is this tracking data? I'd imagine anything more than 10-20m would produce too many false positives.

montblanc4y ago

mostly this. The "counter terrorism" is a bit of a click-bait. There's no NSA type surveillance with sophisticated machine learning algorithms going on (these are unneedded), its simple tools any police department in any modern country has and uses.

3 more replies

dainiusse4y ago

So much of the best vaccinated country. We need another strategy for this bloody thing. It keeps us locked for years now...

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