Just like the way doctors are fighting in hospitals, Google and Apple are working really hard to make the coronavirus tracking collaboration more useful. Hence, within less than one month, both the companies have finally announced that they are testing out the first version of COVID-19 exposure API along with the help of developers who manage the apps on behalf of the well-recognized public health authorities.
It’s a beta release which means that the full version of the API is expected to roll out somewhere in the middle of May.
With this update, both the companies are aiming to let public health authorities define and calculate a transmission risk level which they would be able to assign to a user who gets notified upon being close to a person that is coronavirus positive.
Furthermore, as all exposures cannot necessarily be equal in nature, a Google spokesperson clarified that the transmission risk level will allow PHAs to evaluate the exposure only on the basis of characteristics they manage to collect about the positive patients and other obvious details such as distance and duration. So, while operating on this level, developers will also have the flexibility to modify the notifications for more usefulness.
Apple and Google both have previously had a tough time in pointing out the privacy measures for the COVID-19 tracking API. Finally, they have come to the conclusion of encrypting Bluetooth’s metadata and smartphones will be able to generate random keys every day. Going beyond that, the API will also only be able to keep the track of a contact only for 30 minutes maximum.
Both tech giants are expected to release more details regarding the functionality of tracking API for developers very soon.
Read next: Terms of Services - A Section Often Ignored Because of Its Length (infographic)
It’s a beta release which means that the full version of the API is expected to roll out somewhere in the middle of May.
With this update, both the companies are aiming to let public health authorities define and calculate a transmission risk level which they would be able to assign to a user who gets notified upon being close to a person that is coronavirus positive.
Furthermore, as all exposures cannot necessarily be equal in nature, a Google spokesperson clarified that the transmission risk level will allow PHAs to evaluate the exposure only on the basis of characteristics they manage to collect about the positive patients and other obvious details such as distance and duration. So, while operating on this level, developers will also have the flexibility to modify the notifications for more usefulness.
De nieuwe bluetooth-technologie (api) voor corona-tracking is vanaf nu beschikbaar in de derde beta van iOS 13.5.— Daniël Verlaan (@danielverlaan) April 29, 2020
Zo ziet de functie 'Covid-19 Exposure Notifications' er momenteel uit: pic.twitter.com/yci0jboz6H
Apple and Google both have previously had a tough time in pointing out the privacy measures for the COVID-19 tracking API. Finally, they have come to the conclusion of encrypting Bluetooth’s metadata and smartphones will be able to generate random keys every day. Going beyond that, the API will also only be able to keep the track of a contact only for 30 minutes maximum.
Both tech giants are expected to release more details regarding the functionality of tracking API for developers very soon.
Read next: Terms of Services - A Section Often Ignored Because of Its Length (infographic)
