If you have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19, a tracer which is already installed in your Apple and Android mobile phones will alert you. All you need to do is to activate it, to start its full function.
All iPhone and Android phones have the tool which enables the user to see if they've been exposed to someone with Covid-19. The tracker has been automatically turned off on all phones, but if turned on, could play a major role in preventing the spread of the deadly virus.
The new tool, which is called "Covid-19 Exposure Logging", is a contact tracing system.
It's an add-on which is intended to alert people who have been in contact with someone infected.
It is an API and will only work in conjunction with the country's contact-tracing app, which is still under construction. The system update adds extra system-level controls to Covid logging and can't do anything itself.
COVID-19 apps connects to it and you can see some of the output there and take control of it - including deleting detected people.
Apple and Google announced the joint effort on April 10, and Apple rolled out the plan with its iOS 13.5 which was released on May 20. Owners of iPhones can find it by going into 'Settings', then 'Privacy' and then 'health'. If you have an Android device, the tracker is kept under 'Setting' and then 'Google Settings'.
Furthermore, the tracker works by exchanging random IDs with other devices using Bluetooth. This then enables an app to notify you if you may have been exposed to Covid. But exposure logging cannot access any data in, or add any data to, the Health app.
According to Apple, users can't turn on the Exposure Logging without an authorised app that can send exposure notifications.
Government has been forced to abandon its own contact-tracing app after spending three months and millions of pounds on technology that experts had repeatedly warned would not work.
Comments
Post a Comment