Apple and Google are launching an “express” version of their digital COVID-19 exposure notification system to push messages to iOS and Android users in regions where local health authorities haven’t built a contact tracing app.
Rolling out first with iOS 13.7 and coming soon to Android 6.0+, Exposure Notification Express uses Bluetooth to determine which devices have been in close proximity for a certain amount of time.
Say you met a friend in the park for a socially distant chat. Without ever touching, your smartphones exchange digital keys. A few days later, you test positive for coronavirus. Your phone can, with your consent, upload those keys to the cloud, allowing Google and Apple to notify anyone whom you came into close contact with over a two-week period. iOS users receive notifications directly to their handset, while Android owners will be redirected to the Google Play Store to download a separate app, according to Axios. As with the full version, Express does not collect location data or share your identity with other people, health authorities, or Apple and Google.
“Exposure Notifications Express provides another option for public health authorities to supplement their existing contact tracing operations with technology without compromising on the project’s core tenets of user privacy and security,” Google and Apple said in a statement published by 9to5Mac. “We are committed to supporting public health authorities that have deployed or are building custom apps.”
The two companies teamed up earlier this year for a smartphone-based system that notifies users when they come in contact with someone who’s tested positive for COVID-19. The technology helps health authorities track and contain the illness while warning consumers if a friend, family member, or workmate you’ve seen recently contracts coronavirus. More than 20 countries have launched programs using the Apple-Google technology; a number of US states—including Maryland, Nevada, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.—are expected to take advantage of the new express option.
