Traffic has been monitored based on cellphone data for years. What’s Orwellian is outlawing gatherings and most people feel that’s a reasonable tradeoff in a pandemic.
If you’re complaining about something I would suggest non removable cellphone batteries and the ability to record location and conversations while the phone seems to be off.
Most government traffic data is collected using Bluetooth scanning rather than GSM. That is not to say that the private carriers and big tech companies are not collecting data, then selling it to the government. These companies get around privacy laws through their EULAs that 99.9% of us never even read.
Im assuming you want information regarding bluetooth traffic monitoring and not how big tech forces users to give up privacy.
Here is a paper I found that covers it, I worked in the traffic industry and attended several presentations at IMSA trade shows regarding this subject.
Actually that paper is about a newer technique that would require an app to be installed.
The method I am aware of and currently in use, uses the 48 bit unique identification of phones with bluetooth discoverability turned on. When a car with one of these phones in it drives down the highway the address is timestamped at multiple sensor locations. From analysing these records, traffic flow can be observed. Eg. It took 2 minutes for a phone to be discovered by two different sensors(beacons) 2 miles apart, therefore traffic is flowing at 60mph.
Not everyone has a phone with bluetooth discovery turned on but there are enough to make a usefull observation. As a matter of fact, I currently live near a Highway and just scanning for available wifi hotspots, I am amazed at how many cars drive by with mobile hotspots active. (I pick up thier SSIDs)
This. At a time like this take all your privacy concerns and throw them out the window. Id rather be healthy and spied on than in a woefully unprepared Toronto hospital.
This city and province are about to take a beating. My mom works at a hospital downtown and she says they have no idea what they are doing and no plan for the influx of cases whatsoever.
On top of that, the general public are about as smart as a truck tire so you can't rely on any cultural responsibility from your fellow citizen. Just the other day a crowd lined up down the block in front of a video game store to grab a copy of a newly released game which was available to download.
Okay, now imagine that in a decade or so, we stare down a new virus which is far more threatening than COVID-19. One that will outright kill more people regardless of age.
It's either your personal freedoms or death. Choose one.
In a pandemic situation we can't afford to be choosy about our personal freedoms. We have to accept that our privacy concerns are limited, then be prepared to take them back when the situation is dealt with. You can regain your rights. You can't regain your life, or the lives of those that were killed by your negligence.
Two countries have contained COVID-19 despite a significant outbreak. I suspect a more deadly version would have been contained sooner with people more willing to maintain quarantine.
> Just the other day a crowd lined up down the block in front of a video game store to grab a copy of a newly released game which was available to download and cripple their net for the duration of the download.
Just to play devil's advocate there are plenty of people who rely on their local game store (I used to fall within one of these).
We still live in a world of data caps and or slow download speeds. I know a few people who live "In the sticks" who rely on satellite for their internet connection. Not only are these connections limited they are often slow. Downloading a game can seriously eat into their allowance.
Some people do not have the local storage to store many games on their device and may prefer having the main chunk of the game on physical media.
There are people who have no internet connection at home and rely on public connections at their schools, libraries, coffee shops, etc to get on line as they need too.
There are people who factor in owning the physical media into their purchase by having the option to sell that copy later down the road when they are no longer playing it (A $60 game may seem an easier purchase if they can sell that game for $20 later down the road).
There are people who do not have the latest gen gaming system who rely on used games to get their gaming. One of my family members still have a Wii for their kids to play on because the games for it are dirt cheap, it has plentiful titles for their age and the kids of an age where they not demanding the latest and greatest games.
There are people for which cash is still king to them. Who get paid in cash and shop in cash. For these people purchasing games online (even physical games) requires a trip to a bank or to a supermarket to top up their amazon gift card to be able to purchase online.
You have kids who have done yardwork, odd jobs and have saved up over the past few months to purchase the game. You have people who have been visiting their local store to pay in advance for a game using their layaway programs.
To these people and many more even though a title was available to download to you and I may the ability to download the game is still be outside the reach to them.
I'm not going to say that everyone in the queue you saw fall into any one of the things I have said. I'm sure there are people out there who could of purchased the game online who chose to visit a physical store. All I'm going to ask is that when you see such things that you take a step back and remember that not everyone is in such a fortunate position as you and I and do we want to live in a world where those less fortunate than us can not have access to such things. Just try and remember that someone in that queue has probably been saving their cash for the past 6 months to purchase their child that game.
EDIT: I fucked up an edit and can not re-edit. the quote is supposed to be.
> Just the other day a crowd lined up down the block in front of a video game store to grab a copy of a newly released game which was available to download
I was trying to update the satellite internet part of my comment to say that downloading a large game can cripple their connection for the duration of the game download. I blame my cat (Nope. my bad :-p)
If you’re complaining about something I would suggest non removable cellphone batteries and the ability to record location and conversations while the phone seems to be off.