Earlier in the month, Singapore announced that it plans to launch a COVID-19 contact tracing wearable. CNA reports that the distribution of the tags, called the TraceTogether tokens, began yesterday.
The tags are small, and can be worn on a lanyard or placed in a pocket or bag. They have a battery life of between six to nine months, and do not require any recharging. They will also come with a unique QR code, and is personalised for each recipient.
Previous reports indicated that the tags will be distributed to every citizen of the city-state. Now, it looks like they will first be going to those who are physically frail, living alone or have poor family support. The distribution will be done through house visits, with details of subsequent distributions getting revealed later.
The TraceTogether tags are aimed at those who prefer to not use the mobile app. Previous reports also indicated that the mobile app has issues, which may be a reason to prefer not using the app.
The token itself also doesn’t have a GPS chip, so there’s no need to worry about having their location info collected. Other data that is collected is also encrypted, and cleared after 25 days.
(Source: CNA)
