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Two tech giants form an alliance to track the coronavirus … And that’s all from your phone.
Apple and Google announced this Friday that they are developing a joint system to warn people if they recently contacted others who tested positive for covid-19.
Two giants indicated that initially they will help applications that are already used for these purposes to work efficiently, but their ultimate goal is to do without them and create simpler mechanisms.
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According to both companies, this approach will take into account confidentiality issues, and people will participate voluntarily and anonymously.
The contact tracking method will work using Bluetooth signals from smartphones, which will be used in the encrypted data mechanism to prevent potential infection risks.
Operation
Contact tracing is aimed at identifying and preventing people who were next to someone infected with a coronavirus.
Smartphones can be used to quickly and automatically determine if someone was in contact with someone who is sick.
And, according to companies, neither GPS location data nor personal data will be recorded.
“Confidentiality, transparency, and consent are paramount in these efforts, and we look forward to creating this functionality in consultation with interested parties,” the joint statement said.
“We will openly publish information about our work for analysis by others,” they added.
US President Donald Trump, however, indicated that his government needed time to consider developing technology.
“It’s very interesting, but many people are concerned about individual freedom,” he said at a press conference in the White House.
For its part, the data protection supervisor of the European Union was more positive about this idea.
“The initiative will require further evaluation. However, after a quick review, it seems to mark the right framework in terms of user choice, data protection through design and pan-European interaction, ”he said.
In addition to privacy issues, others say that the success of this initiative will depend on testing enough people to covid-19, which is not happening in many countries.
Tracking applications covid-19
Apple and Google are behind the two operating systems that the vast majority of smartphones in the world work with.
Some countries, such as Singapore, Israel, South Korea, and Poland, already use people’s phones to alert them to coronavirus infections.
Other health authorities, such as the UK, France and Germany, are working on their own initiatives.
According to reports, various US states they are also going to accept the statement.
That’s why Apple and Google are striving to ensure that all of this is consistent, allowing them to adapt existing applications to incorporate their joint solution.
This would make applications compatible, so contact tracking would continue to work when people travel abroad and make contact with people using another tool.
If successful, the scheme could help countries loosen borders and constraints.
Phone Recordings
Apple and Google have published details of the encryption specifications that they plan to use to protect privacy, as well as details of the role that Bluetooth will play.
Both companies hope to initially launch in mid-May a mechanism called a software building block or application programming interface that will allow third-party applications to synchronize.
Records of the corresponding digital identifiers will be stored on remote computer servers, but companies say they cannot be used to expose the true identity of a particular person.
In addition, the process of matching contacts will be carried out on phones, and not centrally on servers.
As indicated, the second phase of the initiative will include the creation of contact tracking capabilities in the iOS and Android operating systems, and users can activate and deactivate this mode without having to download the application.
For this reason, companies appreciate the inclusion of this tool in future updates of their operating systems, which will facilitate its elimination after the pandemic is controlled.
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