Apple and Google to Create Contact Tracking Technology to Combat Coronavirus Spread By Reuters

By Stephen Nellis and Paresh Dave

(Reuters) – Apple Inc (O 🙂 and Alphabet Inc’s (O 🙂 Google said on Friday they will work together to create contact tracking technology that aims to slow the spread of the coronavirus by allowing users to opt for a system that Catalogs other phones have been close.

The rare collaboration between the two Silicon Valley companies, whose operating systems power 99% of the world’s smartphones, could accelerate the use of applications that aim to bring potentially infected people to testing or quarantine more faster and more reliable than existing systems in much of the world.

The companies said they began developing technology two weeks ago to allow mobile devices to exchange information via Bluetooth connections to alert people when they’ve been very close to someone who tested positive for COVID-19, the sometimes deadly respiratory illness. associated with the novel. coronavirus.

The technology will be available for the first time in mid-May as available software tools for contacting tracking applications approved by public health authorities, with Apple and Google approving the use of the tools. However, Apple and Google also plan to release software updates in the coming months so that users don’t have to download any apps to start registering nearby phones.

The companies said the technology will not track the location or identity of users, but will only capture data on when users’ phones have been in close proximity to each other, and the data is decrypted on the user’s phone instead of company servers. GPS location data is not part of the effort, the companies said.

Governments around the world have been struggling to develop or evaluate software that is typically labor-intensive to improve the contact tracking process, in which health officials turn to the recent contacts of an infected person and they ask to be quarantined or tested. While health experts have credited extensive testing and contact tracing as slowing down the spread of the virus in countries like South Korea, privacy experts have wondered if users in the US have. USA And Europe would embrace digital contact tracking.

Several health technology experts have said that the involvement of Apple and Google would be a huge boost to their efforts, as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology contact tracking apps and others struggled to get their apps to work on operating systems. from the competition.

Health experts say follow-up contacts and measures to isolate those who have come into contact with infected people should be in place to ensure that the virus does not re-emerge after the blockages are lifted. But the traditional search process is laborious and unreliable, requiring health officials to interview people with whom they have been in close contact.

When the system becomes part of users’ phones, they should choose to use it. They will need to consult with health care officials if they test positive for COVID-19 and wish to pass that fact on to others, or if they receive notification that they have been around someone who tested positive and need information on what to do next.

However, it was unclear whether the move by Google and Apple would generate global coverage with the technology. Google said the technology will be distributed as part of its Google Play services, which are not available in China or on Android devices that do not use the official version of Google’s operating system.

Apple will distribute the technology as an update to its operating system, which many users automatically enable, but not all.