Apple and Google reveal how the app will track COVID-19

A few days after the release of the first version of the API , further details leaked about the anti-COVID-19 tracking app from Apple and Google in development. There is an example project that shows how everything could work, a series of prohibitions, some restrictions and more. that’s all

How the app works

For the first time, we have a concrete example on which to base ourselves to understand how the app designed by Apple and Google will be. In fact, the example graphical interfaces for Android and iOS have been shared which give us an idea of ​​the operation of the tracking system via Bluetooth Low Energy that we talked about, a system that, as the two giants explain again, “will not identify you to other users “.

Here are the projects of the version for Android smartphones based on an example that works with encrypted ID keys and generated every 15 minutes. Premise soon underlined by Apple and Google: no one along the communication chain will be able to discern any personally identifiable information from any part of the process.

Once the various permissions have been granted and the notification system activated, the tracking application from Apple and Google looks like this, in case a possible exposure to COVID-19 is notified. There are dates and a system which, as a next step, relegates the task of providing indications on treatments and procedures to be followed to the local or national health authority.

There will also be a “Notification to others” tab that allows you to share the status of positivity or not which, although differing according to the country and location, will be based on a unique identifier to verify the result and prevent leaks, whether desired or not. are.

Recall that these are projects, which will then be modified according to the nations and states that will introduce them, especially from the point of view of the integration of the various health agencies.

Development kit and criteria to be respected

Considering precisely the multifaceted nature of the example of Apple and Google variable according to the developers, the countries, and the related policies, the two big names of the web also shared some criteria to be respected, a sort of starting points for the developers who work for the account of public health agencies that they can use to start the app development process.

It is forbidden to request access to the position, targeted advertising and therefore collect information about the user, if not that which is indispensable for the purpose of notification of the exhibition.

On the other hand, it is also evident from the various confirmation requests mentioned as Google and Apple wish to make each step explicit, focusing on transparency on each phase, in any case.

The two companies also undertake to continue the release of updates for their development kits (an SDK for Android and an Xcode toolkit for iOS), which they hope to serve as a starting point for the development of apps by the agencies of public health, apps that emphasize should only be used for the purpose of tackling the COVID-19 emergency.