Security News > 2020 > May > Tech-Assisted COVID-19 Tracking Is Having Some Issues
Utah, North Dakota and South Dakota were the first U.S. states to launch voluntary phone apps that enable public health departments to track the location and connections of people who test positive for the coronavirus.
Nearly a month after Utah launched its Healthy Together app to augment the state's contact-tracing efforts by tracking phone locations, state officials confirmed Monday that they haven't done any contact tracing out of the app yet.
Wolfrum said she's doubtful that the app will be useful, both because of people's wariness and its poor performance.
"North Dakota is now looking at starting a second app based on the Apple-Google technology. The existing app"was rushed to market, because of the urgent need, Vern Dosch, the state's contact tracing facilitator, told KFYR-TV in Bismarck.
Even if the app is described as voluntary and personal health information never leaves the phone, the ACLU says it's important for governments to set additional safeguards to ensure that businesses and public agencies don't make showing the app a condition of access to jobs, public transit, grocery stores and other services.