{"id":1011,"date":"2020-07-06T07:52:28","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T07:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/?p=1011"},"modified":"2022-02-21T10:00:11","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T10:00:11","slug":"fact-check-covid-19-sensor-has-not-been-inserted-into-your-mobile-phone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/fact-check-covid-19-sensor-has-not-been-inserted-into-your-mobile-phone\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19 Sensor Has Not Been Inserted Into Your Mobile Phone\u2026 Here\u2019s The Truth!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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People tend to share fake social media forwards and from time to time the same message gets circulated among many thousands of people – sometimes more. Often these messages are spread via messenger platforms like Facebook\u2019s Messenger, WhatsApp and Viber. Recently, a similar message being spread on WhatsApp caught our attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message, which stated that Google had added a COVID-19 tracking chip to all phones as an update to its mobile phones has the potential to create moral panic. The forward went on to tell readers that if their phones were being disrupted the previous week, it was because the COVID-19 trackers were being included in their mobile phones. People were also urged to go to their phone settings to verify this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The viral WhatsApp forward can be seen below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We also noticed that the post was shared on Facebook by several users as can be seen below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Due to the high penetration of smartphones both locally and globally, the message has the potential to mislead a large number of consumers. Hence, we felt it necessary to ascertain the truth behind these claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FACT CHECK<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We first had a look at several Android phones, checking to see if anything related to Google was updated under the phone’s settings as mentioned in the viral message. We were able to ascertain that most smartphones have actually updated their COVID-19 notification settings under the Google settings as can be seen below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Paying close attention to the information in the settings, we discovered that Google had in fact enabled this service to help users check if those infected with COVID-19 were in the vicinity of the Android user. In order to make use of this service, Bluetooth service needs to be activated. Further, there is no evidence to support the idea that a sensor was inserted into the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further investigations proved that the COVID-19 EXPOSURE NOTIFICATION was a joint initiative between Apple and Google. Details of this initiative have already been published across international media and information about its implementation in India can be found here<\/strong><\/a>. Several analysts had also commented on the Google update on COVID-19 which was published in Reuters<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google says the Exposure Notification System is designed to be central to one\u2019s privacy and security. This means your identity will not be shared with other Google or Apple users. A video posted by Google described how this service works:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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