New software the companies plan to add to phones would make it easier to use Bluetooth wireless technology to track down people for who may have been infected by coronavirus carriers. The idea is to help national governments roll out apps for so-called “contact tracing” that will run on iPhones and Android phones alike. 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 plan said in a rare joint announcement that user privacy and security are baked into the design of their plan. In the first, they will release software in May that lets public health authorities release apps for both Android and iOS phones.

Source: Irish Independent April 10, 2020 20:15 UTC