Alabama is among the first states to sign on to the COVID-19 exposure notification tools Apple Inc. and Google released today.
The technology giants released the tools along with changes that will help public health authorities gather more information on who has the virus.
The system – called Exposure Notification – helps the authorities develop apps that notify users if they have come into contact with a person who has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Users who’ve downloaded the app for their region will be able to update their status if they test positive. The iOS and Android system will then anonymously notify other users who have come into contact with that person.
“User adoption is key to success and we believe that these strong privacy protections are also the best way to encourage use of these apps,” Apple and Google said in a statement. “Over the last several weeks, our two companies have worked together, reaching out to public health officials, scientists, privacy groups and government leaders all over the world to get their input and guidance.”
Dr. Karen Landers, assistant state health officer with the Alabama Department of Public Health, said the state will be using the new tools.
“The Alabama Department of Public Health is working in partnership with Apple and Google, the University of Alabama System, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham to utilize this technology,” she told Alabama NewsCenter. “This technology can allow the ability to accelerate exposure notification of persons who have been in close contact with COVID-19. By notifying early in exposure, persons will be able to take measures such as self-isolation and other ways to protect themselves.”
The Apple and Google tools work differently than the HelpBeatCOVID19.org symptom tracker that UAB developed and launched in April.
Some governments have criticized the Apple and Google system because it doesn’t let authorities store data on who has the virus and track where it is spreading. Instead, it just notifies individuals if they have been exposed. This has also highlighted the privacy shortcomings of other approaches that use location data and store it on government servers.
Still, Apple and Google listed several changes to the system Wednesday that they made after getting feedback from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, local health authorities and dozens of other experts.
One change lets public health authorities contact exposed users based on “a combination of the API and data that users voluntarily chose to input into the app,” the companies said. The API is the Application Programming Interface, the set of software tools that lets these new exposure-notification apps communicate with Apple and Google’s operating systems.
Public health apps want to get additional information from users who have been exposed and reach out to them. So Apple and Google are allowing the optional collection of additional data by these apps, including ZIP codes and user phone numbers. These will only be shared if users give permission.
Each public health authority will be able to set parameters for what counts as an exposure, such as how long someone spent near another user, or how close they got. The software uses Bluetooth technology to let phones detect one another.
The system is designed to work with one app per region, such as a country or state, to avoid fragmentation. The companies said multiple U.S. states and 22 countries have requested and received access to the system.
The tools have been released via the iOS 13.5 update for iPhones released in the past four years, while Android phone users running Android 6.0 or later are receiving the system via a Google Play download.
Apple’s update also includes other features designed for the pandemic, including quicker Face ID unlocking for users wearing masks and enhancements to multiperson FaceTime video calls.
(Alabama NewsCenter contributed to this report. Contact the reporters at [email protected] and [email protected].)
