Apple and Google fueled hopes for digital technology’s promise against a fast-moving, invisible killer, announcing a joint effort to help public health agencies worldwide leverage smartphones to contain the new coronavirusglobal pandemic. Using the Apple-Google technology, contact-tracing apps would gather a record of other phones with which they came into close proximity. Apple and Google said in a rare joint announcement that user privacy and security are baked into the design of their plan. Given the great need for effective contact-tracing — a tool epidemiologists have long employed to contain infectious disease outbreaks — Google and Apple will roll out their changes in two phases. In May, they will release software that will support public-health apps for both Android and iOS phones.

Source: The Standard April 11, 2020 01:18 UTC