Alabama, North Dakota And South Carolina To Debut Apple And Google’s Covid-19 Contact Tracing
Rachel SandlerForbes Staff
Business
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TOPLINE
Apple and Google released software on Wednesday that will allow public health agencies around the world to build their own apps to track who may have been exposed to Covid-19 using bluetooth signals, with Alabama, North Dakota and South Carolina the first U.S. states to sign on.
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KEY FACTS
Apple and Google won’t build apps themselves, but have instead released the underlying technology that allows public health authorities to create their own contact tracing apps to download in the Apple Store or Google Play Store.
Alabama, North Dakota and South Carolina are the first U.S. states to commit to using Apple and Google’s technology, along with 22 countries, including Ireland, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
The Apple and Google contact tracing system will use bluetooth signals to exchange anonymous “keys” between phones that are in close proximity with each other; if someone is later diagnosed with Covid-19, they can enter their positive test result into an app and alert all the other phones that were near that “key” recently.
The app has stringent privacy measures in place, such as not using location data and storing data on user devices rather than a centralized database overseen by a government authority—but some states and countries, such as the U.K., have complained that those measures make the app less effective.
Crucial quote
“North Dakota is excited to be among the first states in the nation to utilize the exposure notification technology built by Apple and Google to help keep our citizens safe,” Gov. Doug Burgum said in a statement. “As we respond to this unprecedented public health emergency, we invite other states to join us in leveraging smartphone technologies to strengthen existing contact tracing efforts, which are critical to getting communities and economies back up and running.”
key background
Public health experts say identifying and isolating infected people and their contacts will be necessary as countries begin to reopen their economies, though some say that while technology can help with the process, it is no substitute for hiring thousands of contract tracers, humans who are trained to track down and notify people who have been potentially exposed. The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security estimates that the US needs to hire roughly 100,000 human contact tracers to be effective.
news peg
Other countries have opted to launch their own contact tracing apps without using Google and Apple’s technology, including China, India, Australia and Israel. Only China and India have mandated citizens use the app, which has led to widespread use, but those apps have still been scrutinized for privacy practices. Utah, too, has built its own contact tracing app that uses GPS location data, unlike Apple and Google.
what to watch out for
Adoption will be a challenge: Oxford University researchers say contact tracing apps have to be downloaded by 60% of the population in order to be effective, and it remains to be seen if Apple/Google’s effort will get that much buy-in.
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