Apple and Google Will Fight COVID-19 Together

Apple and Google Will Fight COVID-19 Together
Fotolia

Tech giants Apple and Google teamed on efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus. The companies plan to build contact tracing technology with the potential to cover most of the smartphones in use.

The companies explained that they will develop technology which will enable governments and public health agencies to develop apps to track the pandemic. In a joint statement they said that they will build it with user privacy and security central to the design. They plan to release APIs next month to enable apps developed by public health authorities to use Bluetooth to trace contact with people infected with the virus.

A platform will be built into iOS and Android platforms in the coming months. The companies emphasised privacy transparency, and consent are of utmost importance in this effort, noting the platform work is a more robust solution than an API and would allow more individuals to participate, if they choose to opt in.

The technology was recently backed by Wojciech Wiewiorowski, head of the independent European Data Protection Supervisor body, who said Bluetooth was a useful path to achieve privacy and personal data protection effectively. It is also being considered as part of efforts by the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing organisation.