Apple and Google Can Help the World Out Of Confinement, But Time is Running Out

As countries around the world attempt to plot a course out of confinement, “test, track and trace” has become a critical part of the strategy to allow people and businesses to return to normal life as safely as possible.

Smartphones could become an indispensable tool in this effort, communicating with other devices nearby and notifying users if they have come in close proximity with somebody who has reported having symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

This is possible thanks to Bluetooth, which enables phones to broadcast and receive signals from other devices using unique identifiers. The only problem is that app developers are typically restricted in how they can implement this functionality on iOS and Android devices.

To solve this, Apple and Google have partnered to create a common solution across their platforms and developed an API that can be used by countries around the world to implement contact tracing applications.

To do this, each user must download an app which, using the API, can generate a temporary unique identifier, which is refreshed every 15 minutes to reduce the risk of privacy issues. This identifier is broadcasted by the user’s phone along with some encrypted data, which is received by all devices that are nearby.