After being delayed to crack down on public gatherings and letting the media lead with advice on social distancing for the coronavirus, the government has decided it's time to time to step up and start tracking people.
Mobile operators have been given the go ahead to hand over your location data to the government, who always seems quick to act when an opportunity to breach its citizens' privacy is involved. After weeks of people not following self-isolation advice or taking the covid-19 threat seriously, Boris Johnson tightened up rules saying not enough people were making an effort and they've ruined it for everyone.
We already know that the government didn't do enough off its own back to ensure that the gravity of the situation was effectively communicated to everyone, and was far too reliant on other industries to do its job. Seven years after trialling a national emergency alert system, there still isn't one in place. The SMS message we all received when the lockdown was announced was sent by mobile operators on behalf of the government. It needed everyone to know they had to stay indoors, and suddenly found an appropriate delivery method for that message only when it was decreed we should be confined to our houses. An 'official' alert sent weeks earlier may have reached those people who ignored news reports and had no real awareness of the reality of the situation.
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