Apple, Google say users to regulate virus 'tracing' tool
25 April, 2020
Apple and Google said Friday their coronavirus "contact tracing" technology would permit smartphone users to regulate their own data, and that the system would likely be shut down following the pandemic ends.
The U.S. technology giants, engaged within an unprecedented collaboration to allow smartphones to communicate across their respective platforms, released new technical information on their program highlighting privacy protections in the initiative.
"Each user will need to make an explicit choice to carefully turn on the technology. It can even be turned off by the user anytime," according to a document released by the Silicon Valley firms.
"This system does not collect location data from your own device, and will not share the identities of other users to one another, Google or Apple. The user controls all data they would like to share, and your choice to talk about it."
The announcement includes health agencies around the world scrambling to develop software that utilize the wireless Bluetooth technology in smartphones to help track the spread of the condition by detecting when someone has been around proximity to an infected person.
The underlying technology being produced by Google and Apple, expected in early May, has rankled some officials in Europe seeking central control of the tracing data.
The Apple-Google document said public health authorities could have access to the technology but that any applications "must meet specific standards around privacy, security, and data control."
The firms added that "exposure notification data will be kept and processed on device," rather than on government servers.
That means authorities would be able to access "beacons" provided by users confirmed as positive for the virus, only if they have opted in to sharing them.
The news headlines from Google and Apple comes amid heightened debate over digital "contact tracing" and its privacy implications.
While specialists say this of alert system may help slow the spread of the condition by informing people if they have crossed paths with an infected individual, privacy activists have warned against establishing databases that could be utilized for surveillance, even following the pandemic.
The two businesses suggested this system may very well be switched off when the pandemic eases, to allay concerns over surveillance and privacy.
"Google and Apple can disable the exposure notification system on a regional basis when it's no more needed," their document said.
Source: japantoday.com