Apple and Google announce new automatic app system to track COVID exposures
States can now deploy exposure notifications without building their own apps
Apple and Google are launching a new auto-generated software framework to help states deploy their own contact tracing apps. Developed as an extension of the earlier exposure notification framework, the new system allows public health authorities to avoid the broader development work of launching a standalone app, simply configuring the basic framework to their state’s needs. Existing applications won’t be affected by the new framework, and adopting the framework won’t prevent states from launching more involved apps in the future.
“As the next step in our work with public health authorities on Exposure Notifications, we are making it easier and faster for them to use the Exposure Notifications System without the need for them to build and maintain an app,” Apple and Google said in a statement. “Exposure Notifications Express provides another option for public health authorities to supplement their existing contact tracing operations with technology without compromising on the project’s core tenets of user privacy and security.”
Welcome to iOS 13,7, due out today.
This will install “exposure notification” to Covid-19 in your operating system. A sneaky, backdoor way to give countries access to your “exposure data” without the need for an app.
Big Brother is watching… t.co/ZYW6pS98xZ
— Miss Jo (@therealmissjo) September 8, 2020
h/t CrsCrpr