Google and Apple recently launched its exposure notification API--which debuted originally as a joint contact-tracing software tool--to the public on May 21.
According to Techcrunch's latest report, Apple and Google renamed their innovation to an 'Exposure Notification System' to reflect its functionality more accurately.
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The system is specifically designed to notify users of the potential exposure they can encounter from individuals who are confirmed with the coronavirus infection, but it will still preserve the privacy of individuals while identifying their location data and information.
Public health officials will now be allowed to use the API in apps released to the general public, with the help of the partners' new system. However, it was clarified that only beta versions of the API have been currently released.
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The innovation will help the developers working on behalf of public health agencies to issue apps. However, it was emphasized that Apple and Google are not creating contact-tracing or exposure-notification apps.
The two companies said that access to the API has already been provided to many US states and 22 countries to support their development efforts, expecting that more can be added moving forward. Twenty-four briefings and tech talks were conducted by Google and Apple for epidemiologists, health officials, and app developers working on their behalf.
Apple and Google's 'Exposure Notification' will allow public health officials to use API that will warn people of potential coronavirus exposure
According to Techcrunch, a decentralized identifier system is used in the Exposure Notification API. It also uses randomly generated temporary keys developed on a user's device which are not linked to their specific info or identity.
Public health agencies can identify potential coronavirus exposure in terms of exposed distance and time using Google and Apple's API system. Public health authorities can also adjust other factors such as transmission risk according to their preferred standards.
Public health officials can now contact exposed individuals directly and provide them with the safety measures they should take based on the voluntarily submitted user data they have provided. Apple and Google have assured that privacy is an utmost consideration by making various improvements during the API's development.
Encrypting all Bluetooth metadata such as specific transmitting power and signal strength is included in the improvement of the system. The system can identify what type of device was used, providing a thin possibility of linking an individual with a specific device and using that as one identification factor.
However, the companies clarified that some apps being developed by public health officials for contact tracing which use geological info won't be allowed since seeking geolocation information permission from users is explicitly barred from the API system.
