Google and Apple release sample code, UI and detailed policies for COVID-19 exposure-notification apps
Today on Monday 4 may 2020 Google and Apple released a few details about the Bluetooth system they’re building into both Android and iOS that will let health care authorities track potential encounters with Covid-19. Google and Apple doing a science fiction by tracking the serious disease through a push notification may still seem like something out of dystopian.
Apple iOS 13.5 includes a new menu features in Settings -> Health -> COVID-19 Exposure Loggin indicates which public health authority app a user is using.
The Apple menu also displays the number of times that a user’s exposure log has been checked in the past 14 days. Here is a list of requirements that all developers of apps that use their Exposure Notifications API must adhere to:
1- Google and Apple Apps must be created by or for a government public health authority and they can only be used for COVID-19 response efforts.
2- Google and Apple Apps must require users to consent before the app can use the API.
3- Google and Apple Apps must require users to consent before sharing a positive test result with the public health authority.
4- Google and Apple Apps should only collect the minimum amount of data necessary and can only use that data for COVID-19 response efforts. All other uses of user data, including targeted advertising, is not permitted.
5- Google and Apple Apps are prohibited from seeking permission to access Location Services.
6- Google and Apple Use of the API will be restricted to one app per country to promote high user adoption and avoid fragmentation. If a country has opted for a regional or state approach, Apple and Google are prepared to support those authorities.
7- Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 13.5 last week which includes the code needed to run apps built using the Exposure Notifications API. Apple is targeting
8- mid-May for a public release of the new software. The first beta of Xcode 11.5 was released alongside the iOS 13.5 beta, which includes a new version of the iOS SDK incorporating the new API.
Article by Darrell Etherington
