Sept. 24, 2020 (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal)
Apple and Google announced a new contact-tracing tool that will be embedded into the operating system of smartphones, removing the need to develop a separate app.
The companies joined forces to build a tool to track the spread of coronavirus in April, designing a system that senses and registers when other phones come into close proximity, and which then sends an alert if anyone subsequently contracts the virus.
The first version of the system required public health authorities to build their own apps that users would have to download to be able to use the function.
The second version, called Exposure Notifications Express, does not require a custom app. Instead, smartphone users will be alerted to the function when they upgrade the software on their phone. The system then relies on users logging that they have contracted the virus on their handset.
The hope is that embedding contact-tracing tools directly into the smartphone’s operating system will overcome the low adoption rate that has prevented such tools from having a significant impact in containing the spread.
As of Tuesday, only six US states have launched apps that rely on the technology. The tools have been available since May 20.
Apple and Google said, however, that 25 states and territories are “exploring” the technology and they hope that more will adopt the system if it is made easier. They also said more than 20 countries were involved.
The efforts have drawn skepticism, partly because the tech giants’ laudable emphasis on privacy might hinder the efficacy of these tools. Also, experts have said that unless a majority of people in a given population are using the tools, the system could be limited.
However, Apple and Google cited forthcoming research from Oxford saying that a majority is not needed for digital contact tracing to help.
“We’ve been exploring different app uptake levels for some time in the UK and we’re really pleased to see that contact-tracing apps in the UK and the USA have the potential to meaningfully reduce the number of cases, hospitalisations and deaths at all levels of app uptake across the population,” said Professor Christophe Fraser, infectious disease epidemiologist at Oxford university, in a press release.
“For example, we estimate that a well-staffed manual contact-tracing workforce combined with 15 per cent uptake could reduce infections by 15 per cent and deaths by 11 per cent.”
Apple and Android users who download the latest system software updates will be alerted to the new feature if they live in a location where regional health authorities have adopted it.