<\/p>\n Like 5.6 million other residents in Singapore, Sean Davidson observes the local law and wears a face mask whenever he goes out for work, shopping or exercise.\u00a0<\/p>\n What distinguishes the Victoria, B.C.-born man\u00a0from the rest of the population?\u00a0He is one of the million people in the Southeast Asian nation who uses an app called\u00a0TraceTogether, a digital innovation that British Columbia is still in the early stages of examining.<\/p>\n According to the Singapore government’s website, the TraceTogether app uses Bluetooth signals to measure the proximity and duration of an encounter between two users.\u00a0Should an app user be diagnosed with COVID-19, the Ministry of Health will look at the information stored on the person’s mobile device\u00a0to identify a list of other app users who\u00a0were in close contact with the infected person during the previous 14 days.<\/p>\n Davidson, a tech executive who has called Singapore home for 10 years, learned about the app from a WhatsApp chat group. As an early adopter of the novel technology, which rolled out on\u00a0March\u00a020, he doesn’t feel it has much intrusion on his daily life.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It’s probably the most low-key app I’ve ever used and certainly on my phone at the moment … It’s just a totally rudimentary interface that time-stamps,” the 55-year-old said to Stephen Quinn, host of The Early Edition<\/em>.<\/p>\n The Singapore government says it only stores the app user’s phone number and a random identity code on a secure server. No geolocation data is\u00a0collected. All the proximity data generated with Bluetooth signals is\u00a0stored on the user’s device and automatically destroyed after 21 days.<\/p>\n Davidson has not\u00a0been contacted by the Ministry of Health, but should he be identified as\u00a0someone who’s come in close contact with a\u00a0COVID-19 case, he would be required by Singapore law to provide any physical contact information, which may include the TraceTogether data stored on his phone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The obligation to submit personal information to the government is a concern to B.C. Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael McEvoy, who has talked to his Singapore counterpart about TraceTogether.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I don’t know if that’s why people are hesitating in Singapore,” McEvoy\u00a0said on The Early Edition<\/em>\u00a0of\u00a0the fewer than 20 per cent of Singapore residents who are using the app.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.5545005.1587783952!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/16x9_780\/virus-outbreak-better-results.jpg\")
<\/img><\/p>\n<\/div>‘A low-key app’<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.5545007.1587783643!\/fileImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_780\/sean-davidson.jpg\")
<\/img><\/p>\n<\/div>Privacy concern<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.5545008.1587783930!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_780\/virus-outbreak-singapore-lee.jpg\")
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