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The Department of Health has launched the COVID-19 Alert SA application, which is a free exposure notification app for Android and iOS.
The app lets people know when they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, and is available to anyone in South Africa who has a Bluetooth smartphone.
The COVID-19 Alert SA app was created using the Apple and Google exposure notification framework and is less than 3MB in size.
It is part of the COVIDConnect digital support service that was launched on July 17. However, COVIDConnect also offers a separate option that works on any mobile phone, including feature phones.
The app offers news, information, a risk assessment tool, and COVID-19 test results, which can be accessed via SMS or WhatsApp.
The COVID Alert SA application extends this service by offering users the ability to automatically determine if they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
How does it work
The COVID-19 Alert SA application, which is available in both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, uses Bluetooth and runs in the background once installed.
“The application uses Bluetooth signals to exchange ‘random codes’ (random numbers that change from time to time) with other users of the COVID Alert SA application,” explains the Department of Health.
“This happens when their smartphones are within 2 meters of each other for more than 15 minutes.”
The codes that are exchanged are stored in a register on each phone for two weeks.
When an app user tests positive for COVID-19, they can report this information on the app anonymously.
Your device then uploads all of the random codes that it has recorded for the last two weeks to the exposure notification server.
The server then sends these codes to the other users of the application, and if there is a match, the user is notified that they have been in contact with the person who tested positive for COVID-19.
Users who receive this notification will also be informed about how to self-quarantine and how to stay healthy.
Privacy
The Health Department emphasizes that the application, which is completely voluntary, keeps user information completely safe thanks to its Bluetooth functionality.
“At no time is the identity and location of the device users required for this exchange to take place,” he explained.
“All that the COVID Alert SA app tracks is how close the smartphone devices are to each other and how long they are in contact.”
The application does not use the GPS functionality of the device or track the user’s location.
Users are also not required to enter their first, last, or other identifying details, such as the user’s device contacts or health information.
“The app has been created using the Apple and Google exposure notification framework, where user privacy is at the core of the design,” the Health Department said.
You can download the application from the following locations:
Now Read: How South Africa’s COVIDConnect Contact Tracking Platform Protects Privacy
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