Google and Apple Rolling Out Built-In COVID-19 Exposure Notifications to Phones

Google and Apple have announced a new system that will facilitate public health authorities to use smartphones to assist in contact tracing without using any app for it. This new system is called  Exposure Notifications Express. As the name suggests, this system will allow public health officials to submit a small configuration file to Apple and Google having data regarding the positive COVID cases in different areas. Google and Apple Rolling Out Built-In COVID-19 Exposure Notifications to Phones.

This data will be used by these two tech giants to set up a system that phone owners of the respective operating systems will be able to know whether they are near to someone who is tested positive for coronavirus.

A user having an iPhone will have to update the device to the latest version of the iOS operating system that is already released for users. People will be getting the alert when the exposure notification is made available from local health authorities. Users will have to set it up.

Google, Apple Begin Rolling Out Built-In COVID-19 Exposure Notifications to Phones

On Android devices, users will also get a notification from the operating system, however they will have to download an app in order to get this feature enables automatically.

Maryland, Nevada, Virginia, and Washington DC will be the first US places to use the new system. Right now the system is launched in the US but it doesn’t mean that company will not launching it for other countries. It might take some time, but it is already working on integrating these systems with all the devices.

This new system will work simultaneously with the tools that were previously launched by Google and Apple that helped public health officials to build apps that can detect the proximity of user-tested positive through Bluetooth. Well, this system might be a futuristic approach by both these tech companies, however, the effectiveness of exposure notification apps in helping slow coronavirus spread remains a major question.

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