Google and Apple announced this week that they will collaborate to make a coronavirus tracking tool. Its is basically a Bluetooth-based COVID-19 contact tracing platform that could alert people if they’ve been exposed to the novel coronavirus. Tracing contacts requires implementing a lot of complex algorithms that won’t replace more traditional methods like interviews. But the latter is impossible due to the current mass pandemic “stay-at-home” orders, so this tool is meant to supplement them.
Both tech-giants are using Bluetooth low-energy (LE) signals for contact tracing for their Coronavirus tracking tool. This means that when two people are near each other, their phones can exchange an anonymous identification key, recording that they’ve had close contact. If one person is later found to be infected with COVID-19, they can share that information through an app. The system automatically inform other users they’ve been close to, so those people can go for a test or much better self-quarantine if necessary. This means you won’t be privy to the real name, location, or other people’s personal data.
But this explanation from Google and Apple leaves more questions about the Coronavirus tracking tool than answers.For example how people will actually use the system. But lets check out what we know so far.
Two phase launch of the Coronavirus tracking tool
Apple and Google are launching the Coronavirus tracking tool program in two phases, starting with an application programming interface (API) in mid-May. This API will make sure iOS and Android apps can trace users regardless of which operating system they’re using. But it will be restricted to official apps released by public health authorities on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. This means you local Health ministry must take part in this.
During this first phase, you’ll need one of these apps to participate in the program. It is still not clear who’s working with Apple and Google right now, or what the apps will look like. It seems likely they’ll be interoperable in some way — which means, a phone with App A could swap a key with App B, as long as they’re both using the API. We could hypothetically see a national government or lots of small local agencies launch their own apps, or governments could approve something built by an outside party like a university. Google and Apple haven’t publicly nailed down many specifics, so we’ll be watching for those in the coming weeks.
Opt-in tracking for phase 2
Following the API, Google and Apple want to add contact tracing as a core iOS and Android feature. The method is not so clear for now, but the goal is that you’d opt in through something like your phone settings. This would turn on the digital key-swapping without requiring a third-party app. Then, if you’re exposed, your phone would signal this somehow and urge you to download an app for more information.
This raises a few questions. We don’t know much about that swapping process, for instance: do you get a vague pop-up notification, or something with more detail? What makes it more complex is Android’s fragmented ecosystem which might complicate the release. Google could plausibly push a fast update through the Play Store to speed things up. We also don’t know if individual government apps might ask for more invasive permissions like location tracking — even if Google and Apple’s core system doesn’t use it.
If you’ve got a feature phone phone without Bluetooth LE, of course, none of these apps will work. Here in Africa with many people who don’t own Smartphones will make such an global initiative fruitless.
What the system does if you are positive
If someone has tested positive for COVID-19, the Coronavirus tracking tool system is supposed to upload your last 14 days of anonymous “keys” to a server. Other people’s phones will automatically download the key lists, and if they have a matching key in their history, they’ll get an exposure notification.
The app will need to make sure people are really infected, though — otherwise, a troll could cause chaos by falsely claiming to have COVID-19. We don’t know exactly how this will work. COVID-19 tests are currently administered by professionals and logged with health authorities, how Apple and Google will validate the tests is still a mystery. But it’s a huge issue, and they’ll need a satisfactory answer.
Either way, sharing your keys is supposed to be voluntary. That seems to mean actually approving an upload, not just granting blanket consent when you install the app — but the exact process is another thing we’re waiting to see.
In case you are exposed to COVID-19
If infected people accept and share their data on the Coronavirus tracking tool as described above, your phone will check the list once a day and look for key matches, then notify you if it finds one. Google’s sample alert is pretty simple: it just reads, “You have recently been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19,” and offers a link with more information. That information will be provided by whichever health authority is offering the app, and we don’t know what it might include — although at the very least, it will probably explain COVID-19 symptoms and self-quarantine guidelines.
Exposure isn’t a simple binary process: the more time you’ve spent with an infected person, the greater the risk. The documentation for the Coronavirus tracking tool includes references to duration measured in 5-minute intervals. It could theoretically send that information to users directly, or it might offer a general risk assessment without an exact number, which would provide a greater level of anonymity.
