Apple, Google track you already. Now they’ll trace if you’ve been exposed to COVID-19
Two of the world’s biggest tech companies are partnering to help track who has come in contact with the coronavirus.
Apple and Google are working together on a new system that can alert people if they’ve been in contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19, Apple said in a news release. People will have to opt-in to the contact tracing system.
“Since COVID-19 can be transmitted through close proximity to affected individuals, public health officials have identified contact tracing as a valuable tool to help contain its spread,” Apple said.
Together, Apple and Google have the ability to track 3 billion people, about a third of the world population, according to Bloomberg News.
The companies are building the software into their operating systems. Apple said the first phase of the program will allow apps from public health authorities to exchange information anonymously and alert people who come in contact with someone who tests positive for the virus.
South Korea has seen success in slowing the virus with close contact tracing and alerting people who could have come in contact with the virus, Nature reports.
The hope in contact tracing is to identify people who may have been infected but don’t know it so they don’t go on to infect more people.
The system uses Bluetooth technology in phones so when people are close to each other the phones can exchange information, rather than using GPS tracking data, Apple said.
According to TechCrunch: “The system uses on-board radios on your device to transmit an anonymous ID over short ranges — using Bluetooth beaconing. Servers relay your last 14 days of rotating IDs to other devices, which search for a match. A match is determined based on a threshold of time spent and distance maintained between two devices.”
“Privacy, transparency, and consent are of utmost importance in this effort,” Apple said, stressing that users will have to opt-in to have their contacts traced.
This story was originally published April 10, 2020 at 3:15 PM with the headline "Apple, Google track you already. Now they’ll trace if you’ve been exposed to COVID-19."
