In this crucial time of COVID-19 pandemic, two ultimate rivals, Apple and Google have paired up together to use their technological advancement for detecting COVID positive individuals. The most used devices we use these days is our cell phone. And the idea is, to upload the test result of the individuals in an app created by public health authorities which will be pre-installed in their phone.
When the individuals upload their test results, these results are kept safe in the app. If any person comes near the COVID-19 positive person, he/she will automatically get an alert on his/her cell phone. However, he/she will not get any identification of who the person is. This illustrates the safeguard and privacy policy of the app. Although it will show that there is a COVID-19 positive, it will not disclose the identity of the person due to social concern.
The projected solution for this epidemic detection app works by tracking cell phones. In this case, the cell phone acts as an identifying tool that works with Bluetooth using the future-oriented technologies of the companies. In the coming few months, the companies will start working on their joint venture project. To use an app released by public health authorities, these companies will start releasing their API showing their compatibility between the two operating systems, Android and iOS.
So, is this it for the world? Are we really turning into some variant of an Orwell world? People will move around scared of one another, with phone alarms going off as you get closer to someone else. Still, it’s healthier in this ordeal. No one wants to get infected, and everyone just wants for all of this to pass by. If you’d like to read more on the matter, head to the Techradar article for the full coverage.
