TraceTogether no longer showing possible exposures, netizens discuss whether it’s good or bad

Singapore — Netizens are discussing whether the fact that TraceTogether will no longer inform the user of possible exposures would be a good or bad thing.

A member of the public put up a screenshot featuring TraceTogether’s latest update in a subreddit known as “r/singapore” to see what others thought about it.

In the TraceTogether application’s latest update that was rolled on Friday (6 Aug) for iOS devices, it noted that the application will no longer show a user’s possible exposures. The Ministry of Health (MOH) will send a text message or call members of the public to inform them that they had possible exposure to the Covid-19 virus.

With the latest update, users can also view their registered PCR or ART swab tests’ results in the application. Additionally, the Covid Health Status section now has a refresh function as well.

According to the TraceTogether website, the Possible Exposure feature was meant to alert users with low exposure risk. Such users are not placed under quarantine or phone surveillance but were urged to self-monitor their health for two weeks.

Launched in Jul 2020, the TraceTogether application has since undergone a number of updates. Since its release, MOH has added new categories of health alerts and warnings that are tiered based on the user’s risk level of being infected by the Covid-19 virus.

With the addition of the new categories, it was deemed that Possible Exposure alerts will no longer be needed.

The website also states that Possible Exposures might be interpreted as the individual having a high risk of contracting the Covid-19 virus, causing them to be denied entry to places inappropriately. As such, removing the function would help to ameliorate confusion among users and businesses alike.

Several netizens remarked that this was a good decision since there were many false positives due to the Possible Exposures indicator.

Some were more worried about possible scams, but others cautioned that it was unwise to reveal any personal information and details.

A few others surmised that Singapore could be modifying the current measures due to the virus becoming endemic.

You Zi Xuan is an intern at The Independent SG. /TISG