Security News > 2020 > April > Google and Apple Plan to Turn Phones into COVID-19 Contact-Tracking Devices

Tech giants Apple and Google have joined forces to develop an interoperable contact-tracing tool that will help individuals determine if they have come in contact with someone infected with COVID-19.

Zero Use of Location Data Unlike existing apps developed by different countries that use real-time location tracking to enforce quarantine rules, the proposed system doesn't involve tracking user locations or other identifying data.

Apple and Google's system is along the lines of TraceTogether, an app developed by Singapore government officials to enable contact tracing via Bluetooth.

In response to privacy concerns raised by the European Data Protection Supervisor, the European Union said it would adopt a "Pan-European approach" to using mobile apps to track the spread of the coronavirus and include a common scheme for using anonymous, aggregated data to trace people who come into contact with those infected and to monitor those under quarantine.

Although countries like South Korea have been able to minimize the outbreak through an extensive contact tracing program, it also raises questions about consent, such as whether users can opt-out before such data is collected and stored - not to mention the potential danger of turning a blind eye to its privacy risks.

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