Ireland today unveiled its COVID-19 Tracker app, its solution to help contract-track and curb the spread of the coronavirus. The app was created using the Exposure Notification API developed by Apple and Google, and users in Ireland can download it from the App Store now and also from Google Play.
The COVID-19 Tracker Ireland app was launched today on the App Store by the Health Service Executive, which is the agency responsible for the provision of personal and health social services for all who live in Ireland. The application has three main functionalities, says the agency:
- Track contacts
- COVID-19 log to control symptoms and track how you feel
- Updates and information on the latest facts and figures about coronavirus in Ireland
This is how the contact tracking functionality works, according to HSE:
Contact tracking identifies people who were in close contact with someone who has coronavirus. For example, family members, friends, colleagues, or fellow travelers. The application will help locate contacts by:
- Reduce the time it takes to notify you if you are a close contact
- Notify close contacts that they may have forgotten
- Allowing us to contact unknown people between us
The application uses Bluetooth technology and anonymous identifications to log in:
- Any phone you are in contact with that also has the application installed
- The distances between your phone and other phones that use the application
- The amount of time your phone is near other phones that use the app
The HSE explains that the app will download an anonymous ID list every two hours, reinforcing the importance of widespread adoption of the new app:
Every 2 hours, the application on your phone downloads a list of anonymous identifications. These have been shared with the HSE by people who use the application and have tested positive for coronavirus. If you have been within 2 meters for more than 15 minutes with any of these phones, you will be notified that you are a close contact. You will not know who the contact is or where the contact occurred.
You can also use the COVID-19 Tracker application to report that you have tested positive for COVID-19.
Privacy is a key element of the Exposure Notification API and perhaps the greatest privacy protection in Apple and Google technology is that location data plays no role in how it works. The two companies say these apps should collect as little data as possible, and location data isn’t necessary for this Bluetooth-based approach.
More details about the Exposure Notification API:
- The whole system is optional
- Other apps will be allowed for contact tracking in app stores; may adopt Apple and Google APIs, but must remove all functionality from Location Services and adopt privacy frameworks of Apple and Google APIs
- Contact tracking data is only stored on a user’s device
- Contact tracking data is only processed on a user’s device
- Public health agencies can define what constitutes an exhibition event
- Public health agencies can determine the number of exposure events a person has had
- The risk of transmission of positive cases can be taken into account in the definition of an exposure event.
- Public health agencies can contact exposed users based on a combination of the API and the data that users voluntarily choose to enter the application.
The COVID-19 Tracker Ireland app is available on the App Store free of charge for iPhone users in Ireland. Android users can also find it on the Play Store in Ireland. You can stay up-to-date with the adoption of the Apple and Google Exposure Notification API in the United States here. The UK announced last month that it will use the Apple and Google Exposure Notification API after all.
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