Remember all that fuss about contact tracing devices?
I recall it like it was only about a week ago…
…which it was and people got so mad they started petitioning against it.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Balakrishnan, even took to his Facebook to answer the many queries people had with the device.
Today, we have another update regarding the tracing device.
First Batch Of Tokens
The plan has already been set in motion.
According to The Straits Times, Singapore-based electronics maker PCI has won a bid to supply 300,000 dongles for the Covid-19 contact tracing project.
Each of these devices cost $20 dollars to make. If you do the math, this means that the government dropped $6 million in hopes that this would help.
Also, remember those petitions we mentioned earlier?
Well, apparently those didn’t really matter since the tender was awarded by Singapore’s Government Technology Agency (GovTech) to the firm on May 14.
PCI, of course, doesn’t really want to comment on the tender right now.
Just realise that if this goes through and the tokens are distributed across the whole country, they stand to make over $110 million dollars from this.
Profitable business in these trying times.
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Why The Token Is Needed
Basically, the TraceTogether app didn’t do too well especially on Apple devices.
The app is supposed to identify people in close contact with a coronavirus patient via wireless Bluetooth technology.
But Bluetooth for iPhones would turn off the moment the app was minimised. This meant you couldn’t get accurate data from a lot of people.
Additionally, only 1.5 million people have downloaded the app which amounts to only a quarter of the population.
This now brings us to the big question: is the device going to invade our privacy?
Despite earlier speculations, it won’t.
Data is stored and erased in the device within 25 days.
Unless the person is infected, the information doesn’t go anywhere.
Might Be More Essential Than We Thought
It might be a bit annoying to carry around, but I think the government has good intentions in mind.
Currently, Singapore has over 39000 coronavirus cases. There are also 25 deaths.
I don’t think we want that number to go up.
Officials have previously said they will start distributing the tokens in the second half of this month.
They’ll also prioritise those with no smartphones.
Alongside this is the government’s plan to reopen Singapore slowly in phases. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, we’re already in phase one.
In fact, we’ve been doing a pretty good job since Circuit Breaker till now. So much so that we might even open phase two soon.
Continue to stay safe, everyone.
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