The companies announced Wednesday that Apple and Google are entering the space to find digital connections.
Technology giants have teamed up to develop a COVID-19 exposure notification system, primarily an integrated programming interface that allows the Department of Public Health to create their own contact tracking applications.
Apple and Google do not build contact tracking apps.
"From today, our exposure notification technology will be available to public health agencies on both iOS and Android," Apple and Google said in a statement.
"Today, this technology is being spearheaded by public health organizations around the world and we will continue to support their efforts."
Once a person has downloaded and activated a contact tracking app on their phone, they will receive an alert if they are exposed to anyone who may or may not have COVID-19. In fact, the COVID-19-positive assumes that the person has activated the app on his phone. The companies said the pursuit of digital contacts is to increase traditional human-human pursuits, not to replace them. Digital connection tracking is faster than traditional tracking, requires fewer resources and, since it does not rely on human memory, makes it easier to monitor exposure in crowded spaces or maintain contacts with strangers. On the other hand, for such apps to be effective, users need to download and activate apps on their phones, and it is not yet clear that a large number of Americans are willing to do so. One model from the University of Oxford found that 60% of the population must choose to make digital connections effective. The researchers noted that the low adoption rate could still have a positive impact.
To reach such a high turnout, Americans must believe that their personal health data will be protected, and healthcare companies that collect health data, including 23andMe, AncestryDNA, and MyHeritage, have struggled in recent years. There is also the question of how applications can verify a positive COVID-19 test, and protect the system from flooding with fake diagnoses Use them. The companies say Apple and Google have obtained information from public health associations, including disease control and prevention centers, nonprofits, government officials, academics, and privacy specialists. Working together to design the system means that Android and iPhone apps, as well as apps from different states, will be able to recognize each other. Once they have downloaded the app, users must agree to provide their information to the health authorities, which can enable or disable it when they choose. The data collection is kept private and is used by health authorities only for COVID-19 exposure, not in a central database. Both Apple and Google said the data coming out of the exposure notification system is not monetized.