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The COVID-19 app is a notification system and there is no way for it to be used for clandestine purposes, experts explain.
A screenshot of the COVID-19 alert app from the Play Store.
JOHANNESBURG: The coronavirus (COVID-19) app is not a contact tracing app. It is a notification system and there is no way it will be used for clandestine purposes, experts explain.
Tech journalist Jan Vermeulen and data privacy researcher Murray Hunter explained that the app doesn’t collect any personal data.
“The application is based on exactly the same technology that is being implemented in other parts of the world.”
On Thursday during his speech, President Cyril Ramaphosa urged citizens to download South Africa’s COVID-19 alert app.
However, several people on social media raised concerns about data protection and possible misuse of the app.
Vermeulen argued that users are not required to register their personal information to use the application.
“Find out if they have been very close to someone who tested positive.”
He added that the app is not a contact tracing system.
“This is not a contact tracing system, it is completely anonymous. There is no way to track who tested positive. “
The app is a COVID-19 exposure notification system that uses Bluetooth technology instead of GPS tracking.
Using Bluetooth technology, the app will alert any user if they have been in close contact with any other user who has tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 14 days.
The app is completely anonymous and users have no way of tracking who tested positive for the virus.
(Edited by Refilwe Pitjeng)
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