Few provinces still resisting COVID Alert app as new features under consideration
Quebec has joined the COVID Alert app, leaving B.C. and Alberta as the only remaining provinces with no immediate plans to activate the digital tool. Both Nova Scotia and P.E.I. have committed to joining in the coming days.
The federal government-administered smartphone app allows users to report a positive coronavirus test and alert others of a potential exposure.
Health Canada says more features could be on the way, but the federal agency says its priority remains to have all provinces and territories join the app “as is.”
“The app will only really help us if many people choose to activate it,” Quebec Premier François Legault told reporters in Montreal on Monday evening shortly after downloading it himself.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="WATCH | Quebec’s premier says COVID Alert is safe to use: ” data-reactid=”36″>WATCH | Quebec’s premier says COVID Alert is safe to use:
Quebec had initially balked at the app. But as the province confronts a steep increase in coronavirus infections — reporting more than 1,000 new cases daily since last Friday — Legault’s government had a change of heart.
“If you want to make a difference and return to a more normal life, please reduce your contacts and activate the COVID app,” he said.
According to data provided by Health Canada, COVID Alert has been downloaded more than 3.4 million times since it was launched July 31. At least 856 users across the country have reported a positive test through the tool.
Most of the reporting has so far come from Ontario, which was the first province to activate the app. Federal officials have said the more users install it, the more effective it will be.
The app is designed to bolster contact tracing — the practice of reaching individuals who’ve potentially been exposed to someone diagnosed with COVID-19 — at a time when case counts in several provinces are rising.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Toronto Public Health even called off most of its contact tracing efforts, apparently unable to handle the demand due to a steady increase in the city’s infection rate.” data-reactid=”42″>Toronto Public Health even called off most of its contact tracing efforts, apparently unable to handle the demand due to a steady increase in the city’s infection rate.
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Based on the exposure notification framework developed jointly by tech giants Apple and Google, the app allows mobile devices to communicate with each other using Bluetooth technology, with smartphones carrying out a digital handshake when they’re less than two metres apart for at least 15 minutes.
The information isn’t shared with the government. Nor are the users’ identities, locations or health data.
When someone tests positive, public health provides them with a one-time code to enter into the app, which then relays an exposure notification to others with whom they’ve been in close contact for an extended period.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="More features needed?” data-reactid=”66″>More features needed?
More than two months after COVID Alert’s launch, however, there are calls for the federal government to authorize more features and increase the app’s potential effectiveness.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Dr. Andrew Morris, an infectious disease physician and professor at the University of Toronto's faculty of medicine, urged the app’s developers to consider adding anonymized functions that would allow users — or even public health officials — to be told how frequently people are spending extended periods in close contact with others. The prolonged exposure is considered a driver of coronavirus transmission.” data-reactid=”68″>Dr. Andrew Morris, an infectious disease physician and professor at the University of Toronto’s faculty of medicine, urged the app’s developers to consider adding anonymized functions that would allow users — or even public health officials — to be told how frequently people are spending extended periods in close contact with others. The prolonged exposure is considered a driver of coronavirus transmission.
Fitness apps and automatic screen time logging provide examples of the way a COVID app could share data with users about their behaviour and help shape their actions, Morris said. For example, the app could inform users of the total number of people they’ve been in close contact with for extended periods.
“People do modify their behaviour based on that information,” he said.
B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, recently said the province is working with federal officials “to make some adjustments that will meet our needs” before adopting the app.
Health Canada hinted last week at two potential additions to come, while stressing its priority remains for all provinces and territories to join and allow residents to report a positive test through COVID Alert.
“It would be premature to provide a list of what’s being considered, but there’s definitely lots of discussions currently on wearable devices or QR codes or push notifications,” Marika Nadeau, the director of Health Canada’s COVID Alert task force, said on a call with reporters.
In Singapore — one of the first countries to widely adopt a contact tracing app — officials distributed Bluetooth-enabled wearable “tokens” to users without smartphones.
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Edgar Su/Reuters
Canada’s app is only available on Apple and Android devices made in the past five years. Health Canada estimates that accounts for 92 per cent of smartphone users across the country. But it still leaves the technology out of reach for marginalized groups who are more vulnerable to the virus.
In England and Wales, the U.K.’s National Health Service provides businesses with scannable QR codes that can be read using a COVID app. Users who’ve frequented the premises can later be notified in the event of an outbreak.
Adding features to Canada’s app, however, would likely come with a tradeoff: the obligation for users to provide it with more information. Already, some Canadians have been skittish about installing a government-administered app, harbouring the unfounded fear that it will allow them to be tracked.
“You have to be careful,” said Brian Jackson, who’s been analyzing similar apps for the Toronto-based Info-Tech Research Group, an information technology research and advisory firm.
“The more features you add, the more there is to understand and the more ins and outs there are to the technology layers involved … and to what data is sent back and forth.”
Jackson said the move will work as long as the federal government is able to roll out new features while maintaining a “privacy first” approach.
Alberta still uses its own provincial app, ABTraceTogether, which was launched in the spring and is based on older technology. The province said this week ABTraceTogether still has 244,895 users.
“Alberta needs to transition from their current provincial application to COVID Alert,” Nadeau said Tuesday, “so we are continuing our conversation, as well as (with) B.C.” She declined to provide a timeline for when the two provinces might join.
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Sven Hoppe/The Associated Press
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="App is working, evidence suggests” data-reactid=”127″>App is working, evidence suggests
COVID Alert’s built-in privacy features make it impossible to know how many users have received an exposure notification through the app, but anecdotes continue to illustrate its potential.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="On Sunday, a curling tournament in Waterloo, Ont., was halted after a participant received news through the app that they had been near a person with COVID-19.” data-reactid=”129″>On Sunday, a curling tournament in Waterloo, Ont., was halted after a participant received news through the app that they had been near a person with COVID-19.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Rocco Rossi, president and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and a former federal Liberal Party official, tweeted last week he’d received an exposure notification and then tested negative. He later said in an interview he suspects the potential exposure may have occurred during a recent trip on Toronto’s subway.” data-reactid=”130″>Rocco Rossi, president and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and a former federal Liberal Party official, tweeted last week he’d received an exposure notification and then tested negative. He later said in an interview he suspects the potential exposure may have occurred during a recent trip on Toronto’s subway.
“I didn’t have to have physical contact tracers using up resources to try to find me,” he said, referring to the speed at which the app alerted him.
There is also evidence that other users have been testing positive after first being notified through the app, though it’s impossible to tell how many infections have been prevented by its use.
Ottawa Public Health said last month it had recorded its first COVID-19 diagnosis prompted by an exposure notification.
Lucie Vignola, a member of Health Canada’s COVID Task Force, told CBC Radio on Monday they’ve been told of users who’ve received an alert, tested positive for the virus, “then modified their behaviour to make sure that they weren’t transmitting it within the community, including a teacher.”
Although no one likes a know-it-all, they dominate the Internet.
The Internet began as a vast repository of information. It quickly became a breeding ground for self-proclaimed experts seeking what most people desire: recognition and money.
Today, anyone with an Internet connection and some typing skills can position themselves, regardless of their education or experience, as a subject matter expert (SME). From relationship advice, career coaching, and health and nutrition tips to citizen journalists practicing pseudo-journalism, the Internet is awash with individuals—Internet talking heads—sharing their “insights,” which are, in large part, essentially educated guesses without the education or experience.
The Internet has become a 24/7/365 sitcom where armchair experts think they’re the star.
Not long ago, years, sometimes decades, of dedicated work and acquiring education in one’s field was once required to be recognized as an expert. The knowledge and opinions of doctors, scientists, historians, et al. were respected due to their education and experience. Today, a social media account and a knack for hyperbole are all it takes to present oneself as an “expert” to achieve Internet fame that can be monetized.
On the Internet, nearly every piece of content is self-serving in some way.
The line between actual expertise and self-professed knowledge has become blurry as an out-of-focus selfie. Inadvertently, social media platforms have created an informal degree program where likes and shares are equivalent to degrees. After reading selective articles, they’ve found via and watching some TikTok videos, a person can post a video claiming they’re an herbal medicine expert. Their new “knowledge,” which their followers will absorb, claims that Panda dung tea—one of the most expensive teas in the world and isn’t what its name implies—cures everything from hypertension to existential crisis. Meanwhile, registered dietitians are shaking their heads, wondering how to compete against all the misinformation their clients are exposed to.
More disturbing are individuals obsessed with evangelizing their beliefs or conspiracy theories. These people write in-depth blog posts, such as Elvis Is Alive and the Moon Landings Were Staged, with links to obscure YouTube videos, websites, social media accounts, and blogs. Regardless of your beliefs, someone or a group on the Internet shares them, thus confirming your beliefs.
Misinformation is the Internet’s currency used to get likes, shares, and engagement; thus, it often spreads like a cosmic joke. Consider the prevalence of clickbait headlines:
You Won’t Believe What Taylor Swift Says About Climate Change!
This Bedtime Drink Melts Belly Fat While You Sleep!
In One Week, I Turned $10 Into $1 Million!
Titles that make outrageous claims are how the content creator gets reads and views, which generates revenue via affiliate marketing, product placement, and pay-per-click (PPC) ads. Clickbait headlines are how you end up watching a TikTok video by a purported nutrition expert adamantly asserting you can lose belly fat while you sleep by drinking, for 14 consecutive days, a concoction of raw eggs, cinnamon, and apple cider vinegar 15 minutes before going to bed.
Our constant search for answers that’ll explain our convoluted world and our desire for shortcuts to success is how Internet talking heads achieve influencer status. Because we tend to seek low-hanging fruits, we listen to those with little experience or knowledge of the topics they discuss yet are astute enough to know what most people want to hear.
There’s a trend, more disturbing than spreading misinformation, that needs to be called out: individuals who’ve never achieved significant wealth or traded stocks giving how-to-make-easy-money advice, the appeal of which is undeniable. Several people I know have lost substantial money by following the “advice” of Internet talking heads.
Anyone on social media claiming to have a foolproof money-making strategy is lying. They wouldn’t be peddling their money-making strategy if they could make easy money.
Successful people tend to be secretive.
Social media companies design their respective algorithms to serve their advertisers—their source of revenue—interest; hence, content from Internet talking heads appears most prominent in your feeds. When a video of a self-professed expert goes viral, likely because it pressed an emotional button, the more people see it, the more engagement it receives, such as likes, shares and comments, creating a cycle akin to a tornado.
Imagine scrolling through your TikTok feed and stumbling upon a “scientist” who claims they can predict the weather using only aluminum foil, copper wire, sea salt and baking soda. You chuckle, but you notice his video got over 7,000 likes, has been shared over 600 times and received over 400 comments. You think to yourself, “Maybe this guy is onto something.” What started as a quest to achieve Internet fame evolved into an Internet-wide belief that weather forecasting can be as easy as DIY crafts.
Since anyone can call themselves “an expert,” you must cultivate critical thinking skills to distinguish genuine expertise from self-professed experts’ self-promoting nonsense. While the absurdity of the Internet can be entertaining, misinformation has serious consequences. The next time you read a headline that sounds too good to be true, it’s probably an Internet talking head making an educated guess; without the education seeking Internet fame, they can monetize.
TORONTO – A new survey says a majority of software engineers and developers feel tight project deadlines can put safety at risk.
Seventy-five per cent of the 1,000 global workers who responded to the survey released Tuesday say pressure to deliver projects on time and on budget could be compromising critical aspects like safety.
The concern is even higher among engineers and developers in North America, with 77 per cent of those surveyed on the continent reporting the urgency of projects could be straining safety.
The study was conducted between July and September by research agency Coleman Parkes and commissioned by BlackBerry Ltd.’s QNX division, which builds connected-car technology.
The results reflect a timeless tug of war engineers and developers grapple with as they balance the need to meet project deadlines with regulations and safety checks that can slow down the process.
Finding that balance is an issue that developers of even the simplest appliances face because of advancements in technology, said John Wall, a senior vice-president at BlackBerry and head of QNX.
“The software is getting more complicated and there is more software whether it’s in a vehicle, robotics, a toaster, you name it… so being able to patch vulnerabilities, to prevent bad actors from doing malicious acts is becoming more and more important,” he said.
The medical, industrial and automotive industries have standardized safety measures and anything they produce undergoes rigorous testing, but that work doesn’t happen overnight. It has to be carried out from the start and then at every step of the development process.
“What makes safety and security difficult is it’s an ongoing thing,” Wall said. “It’s not something where you’ve done it, and you are finished.”
The Waterloo, Ont.-based business found 90 per cent of its survey respondents reported that organizations are prioritizing safety.
However, when asked about why safety may not be a priority for their organization, 46 per cent of those surveyed answered cost pressures and 35 per cent said a lack of resources.
That doesn’t surprise Wall. Delays have become rampant in the development of tech, and in some cases, stand to push back the launch of vehicle lines by two years, he said.
“We have to make sure that people don’t compromise on safety and security to be able to get products out quicker,” he said.
“What we don’t want to see is people cutting corners and creating unsafe situations.”
The survey also took a peek at security breaches, which have hit major companies like London Drugs, Indigo Books & Music, Giant Tiger and Ticketmaster in recent years.
About 40 per cent of the survey’s respondents said they have encountered a security breach in their employer’s operating system. Those breaches resulted in major impacts for 27 per cent of respondents, moderate impacts for 42 per cent and minor impacts for 27 per cent.
“There are vulnerabilities all the time and this is what makes the job very difficult because when you ship the software, presumably the software has no security vulnerabilities, but things get discovered after the fact,” Wall said.
Security issues, he added, have really come to the forefront of the problems developers face, so “really without security, you have no safety.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
As online shoppers hunt for bargains offered by Amazon during its annual fall sale this week, cybersecurity researchers are warning Canadians to beware of an influx of scammers posing as the tech giant.
In the 30 days leading up to Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, taking place Tuesday and Wednesday, there were more than 1,000 newly registered Amazon-related web domains, according to Check Point Software Technologies, a company that offers cybersecurity solutions.
The company said it deemed 88 per cent of those domains malicious or suspicious, suggesting they could have been set up by scammers to prey on vulnerable consumers. One in every 54 newly created Amazon-related domain included the phrase “Amazon Prime.”
“They’re almost indiscernible from the real Amazon domain,” said Robert Falzon, head of engineering at Check Point in Canada.
“With all these domains registered that look so similar, it’s tricking a lot of people. And that’s the whole intent here.”
Falzon said Check Point Research sees an uptick in attempted scams around big online shopping days throughout the year, including Prime Days.
Scams often come in the form of phishing emails, which are deceptive messages that appear to be from a reputable source in attempt to steal sensitive information.
In this case, he said scammers posing as Amazon commonly offer “outrageous” deals that appear to be associated with Prime Days, in order to trick recipients into clicking on a malicious link.
The cybersecurity firm said it has identified and blocked 100 unique Amazon Prime-themed scam emails targeting organizations and consumers over the past two weeks.
Scammers also target Prime members with unsolicited calls, claiming urgent account issues and requesting payment information.
“It’s like Christmas for them,” said Falzon.
“People expect there to be significant savings on Prime Day, so they’re not shocked that they see something of significant value. Usually, the old adage applies: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Amazon’s website lists a number of red flags that it recommends customers watch for to identify a potential impersonation scam.
Those include false urgency, requests for personal information, or indications that the sender prefers to complete the purchase outside of the Amazon website or mobile app.
Scammers may also request that customers exclusively pay with gift cards, a claim code or PIN. Any notifications about an order or delivery for an unexpected item should also raise alarm bells, the company says.
“During busy shopping moments, we tend to see a rise in impersonation scams reported by customers,” said Amazon spokeswoman Octavia Roufogalis in a statement.
“We will continue to invest in protecting consumers and educating the public on scam avoidance. We encourage consumers to report suspected scams to us so that we can protect their accounts and refer bad actors to law enforcement to help keep consumers safe.”
Falzon added that these scams are more successful than people might think.
As of June 30, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre said there had been $284 million lost to fraud so far this year, affecting 15,941 victims.
But Falzon said many incidents go unreported, as some Canadians who are targeted do not know how or where to flag a scam, or may choose not to out of embarrassment.
Check Point recommends Amazon customers take precautions while shopping on Prime Days, including by checking URLs carefully, creating strong passwords on their accounts, and avoiding personal information being shared such as their birthday or social security number.
The cybersecurity company said consumers should also look for “https” at the beginning of a website URL, which indicates a secure connection, and use credit cards rather than debit cards for online shopping, which offer better protection and less liability if stolen.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2024.
