Would You Use a COVID-19 Contact Tracer App?

Published May 7, 2020

Google and Apple have announced a joint effort to enable the use of Bluetooth technology to help governments and health agencies both track and reduce the spread of COVID-19. Since COVID-19 is transmitted through close proximity, public health officials have identified contact tracing as a valuable tool to help stop the spread of the disease. The two companies responsible for the operating systems in most smartphones are creating APIs that will enable interoperability between Android and iOS devices using apps from public health authorities. These APIs are expected to be released in May 2020, and the apps from public health authorities should soon follow.

Contact tracer apps operate by exchanging a temporary token with other devices within a certain distance of each other. The apps are expected to let public health authorities and other people using the app know if they have been in close contact with someone who later reports positive for Covid-19.

Apple and Google have both indicated that given the urgent need, the plan is to implement this solution in two steps while maintaining strong protections around user privacy.

The second step is to implement the tracing on an operating system-level technology. This is a more robust solution than an API and would allow more individuals to participate if they choose to opt-in, as well as enable interaction with a broader ecosystem of apps and government health authorities.

Over recent weeks, several app developers have also been working on what is being called COVID-19 contact tracer apps. These apps are not created by Google, Apple, or public health authorities, but some claim to have contact tracing features.

Let us know in the poll below if you would use a COVID-19 contact tracer app.

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Portions of this article are from a press release published by Apple in April 2020.

The CDC is also expected to implement human contact tracers to help track the spread of COVID-19

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