Apple and Google have launched a jointly-developed Covid-19 (coronavirus) exposure tracking technology, designed to enable health authorities to develop contact-tracing apps.
In a statement, the companies said their Exposure Notifications technology was available to enable production of iOS and Android apps. The main purpose of the set-up is to provide services offering rapid notifications, “which is especially important to slowing the spread of the disease with a virus that can be spread asymptomatically”.
The tool will not collect or use location data from devices and users will be required to opt-in to any apps developed using it: “if a person is diagnosed with Covid-19, it is up to them whether or not to report that in the public health app”.
Contact tracing—tracking down those who may have been exposed to an infectious person—is an important and proven strategy that scientists have used to successfully fight outbreaks ranging from Ebola to HIV. In the last few months, many countries have been working to use various technologies, including mobile-phone apps, to try to keep up with the scale and speed of the pandemic.
Over two dozen countries have already released their own contact tracing apps, but the Apple-Google release is expected to dramatically accelerate the process: their partnership means almost all smartphones worldwide will be able to detect each other and share information about potential exposure to the disease. Countries developing their own systems have run into both technical and civil liberties problems that the Silicon Valley project hopes to address.
Apple and Google claimed the privacy protections would boost user adoption, considered a key element in the success of contact-tracing apps.
In separate Twitter posts, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet chief Sundar Pichai emphasised the technology aimed to help public health agencies in their tracing efforts, while protecting user privacy.
The companies revealed they were teaming up to develop the technology in April.
