Apple, Google release COVID-19 exposure notification API

As promised, Americal technology majors Apple and Google released the COVID-19 exposure notification API (Application Program Interface) for global health authorities and registered app developers.

"Starting today, our Exposure Notifications technology is available to public health agencies on both iOS and Android. What we’ve built is not an app — rather public health agencies will incorporate the API into their own apps that people install. Our technology is designed to make these apps work better. Each user gets to decide whether or not to opt-in to Exposure Notifications; the system does not collect or use location from the device; and if a person is diagnosed with COVID-19, it is up to them whether or not to report that in the public health app. User adoption is key to success and we believe that these strong privacy protections are also the best way to encourage use of these apps," Apple- Google joint statement said.

As of now, Public Health Agencies (PHA) from 25 countries in five continents have signed up for Apple-Google's COVID-19 exposure notification API to develop their custom coronavirus tracking application to mitigate the spread of the pandemic.

Prior to the public release, both the companies rolled out the multiple beta version of the API to registered software developers and took valuable feedback to make sure the user-privacy is guarded at all times and there is no chance of leakage of personally identifiable attributes of the phone owners in the government servers.

The Apple-Google exposure notification API is capable of creating random Temporary Exposure Keys so that it can never reveal the real identity of the person. Also, Bluetooth signal traffic metadata is also fully encrypted so that even the phone model cannot be retrieved.

Must read | 10 key things you should know about Apple-Google's COVID-19 contact tracing app

Apple-Google says PHAs can define what constitutes the exposure event, make a risk assessment of an individual based on the area, he or she travelled and notify the user about a possible chance of exposure to an infected person, provided the mobile phone had consented to provide permission for location tracking and personal information.

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