More Countries Implement Apple/Google API in Contact Tracing Apps, Including Germany, Poland, and Saudi Arabia

[MacRumors]

Germany, Poland, and Saudi Arabia are among the latest countries to implement Apple's and Google's jointly developed Exposure Notification API in their respective COVID-19 contact tracing apps, available on the App Store.

Apple released the Exposure Notification API as part of iOS 13.5 last month. At the time, Apple said that 22 countries had requested and received access to the API, with the U.S. states of Alabama, North Dakota, and South Carolina also committed to using the API. Some other participating countries include Italy, Latvia, and Switzerland.

Apple and Google created this API to allow iPhones and Android smartphones to interface with one another for contact tracing purposes. If and when you happen to be nearby someone who later tests positive for COVID-19, you can receive a notification and take the appropriate steps to self isolate and seek medical help if necessary.

The API relies on Bluetooth, is designed with privacy in mind, and is disabled by default. Read our Exposure Notification guide for more details.

(Thanks to Nicolas Oestreich of iFun.de, Piotr Kurnat, and Hussain!)

Article Link: More Countries Implement Apple/Google API in Contact Tracing Apps, Including Germany, Poland, and Saudi Arabia

 

[AustinIllini]

Oh look! The US is behind again. no kidding

 

[now i see it]

While a recent poll suggests that 70% of Americans refuse to use a contact tracing app-

More than 7 in 10 Americans won’t use contact-tracing apps, data shows

That’s a decline from April, when only 1 in 2 rejected the idea.

arstechnica.com

 

[rhyzome]

Is there any app that uses the API for the USA yet??

 

[Bboble]

So where is our app!?
Safe to say it's coming with rural broadband?

 

[tom.humphrey]

Whereas in the UK we're still planning to use a Centralised system....

 

[appleguy123]

Is there any app that uses the API for the USA yet??

Only official government agencies can create an app with this API and the USA has already said there will be no national contact tracing app. You’ll have to see if your state creates one eventually.

 

[AustinIllini]

Is there any app that uses the API for the USA yet??

You put on a tin foil hat and yell on facebook about vaccines.

 

[foobarbaz]

While a recent poll suggests that 70% of Americans refuse to use a contact tracing app-

More than 7 in 10 Americans won’t use contact-tracing apps, data shows

That’s a decline from April, when only 1 in 2 rejected the idea.

arstechnica.com

Wow, such a privacy minded country. No wonder Facebook and Google are struggling to survive …

 

[DEXTERITY]

While a recent poll suggests that 70% of Americans refuse to use a contact tracing app-

More than 7 in 10 Americans won’t use contact-tracing apps, data shows

That’s a decline from April, when only 1 in 2 rejected the idea.

arstechnica.com

Never took that poll and know plenty of people who would use it...i dont believe those results.

 

[Sasparilla]

Is there any app that uses the API for the USA yet??

No national app with the Admin letting such a responsibility fall to the states. Only 3 states plan - just plan on using this at this point. Most states who do plan on having an app are just getting them made by vendors who aren't using this and are generally much more intrusive and guessing will fail miserably because of that, but we'll see.

 

[needsomecoffee]

Germany's code is available for review on Github.

 

[ChromeAce]

How about  leads by example here and bypasses all the moronic uneducated politicians by turning it ON by default in the Health app... nothing else needed. Let’s see how fast this pandemic is handled by tech instead of talk.

 

[DaveMcM76]

Whereas in the UK we're still planning to use a Centralised system....

Ah yes our wonderful Track and Trace system that will be fully ready to go by the end of April... erm, we meant May... ok, maybe June... look, we might have bits of it running by September! 🤦‍♂️

 

[wossogststepp]

How about  leads by example here and bypasses all the moronic uneducated politicians by turning it ON by default in the Health app... nothing else needed. Let’s see how fast this pandemic is handled by tech instead of talk.

Apple has not written an app, they only provided a framework and API.

 

[ncc1701d]

I've said this before, but apple and google have got it backwards. They should be the ones having a world wide app to contact trace on a global scale. Then that data can be shared with local apps. Anyone leaving their country or state won't be informed of anyone they come into contact with unless they download the destination app. So, airline pilots, (what's left of us) for example, will need to download countless apps to keep track of everything. Not to mention the opposite - you're sitting happily at your local cafe interacting with someone that's on holidays that has been flagged as a possible carrier and it won't tell you.

 

[calstanford]

Beyond idiotic to do this by state only in the US. What’s the Federal Government even good for then? How is a tracing app useful if so many people cross state borders every day.

 

[JGIGS]

OK great. I'm seeing a lot of people no longer even carrying about social distancing where I live, so for sure they will all use this. /s I saw about 20-30 people partying all day on 400 square foot balcony the other day. I don't know when everyone just decided Covid-19 wasn't a thing anymore. Just shows you how short of a memory humans have when it comes to things that make them uncomfortable.

 

[Gorms]

Good to see the UK now ranks behind Saudi Arabia in terms of respect for user privacy

 

[TheShadowKnows!]

Alabama, North Dakota, and South Carolina... primo states of progressive thinking, social distancing, and face-mask wearing./s

 

[manu chao]

I've said this before, but apple and google have got it backwards. They should be the ones having a world wide app to contact trace on a global scale. Then that data can be shared with local apps. Anyone leaving their country or state won't be informed of anyone they come into contact with unless they download the destination app. So, airline pilots, (what's left of us) for example, will need to download countless apps to keep track of everything. Not to mention the opposite - you're sitting happily at your local cafe interacting with someone that's on holidays that has been flagged as a possible carrier and it won't tell you.

Apple and Google did announce that in the rather near future what is currently offered via the API will be baked into the OS. Though, I’m not sure if this will change much more than making it more battery-efficient. Hope someone who knows more can chime in on that.

 

[CmdrLaForge]

I assume this effort will not really play out as planned. Not enough people will join in. Also that the data privacy psychopaths won makes this app a lot less useful.

 

[bobbie424242]

DOA DOA DOA DOA.

 

[123]

How about  leads by example here and bypasses all the moronic uneducated politicians by turning it ON by default in the Health app... nothing else needed. Let’s see how fast this pandemic is handled by tech instead of talk.

And how do you report that you tested positive? This requires a global certification process, by Apple's standards it would be available sometime in 2021/22.

Also, what happens when your phone says: hey, you were standing next to someone who has reported positive. Can you then just stay home? Just because your health app told you to self-quarantine? What if it happens for the third time in a month, would your employer still allow it? Laws are required for this. Laws by moronic, uneducated politicians.

 

[ChromeAce]

Apple has not written an app, they only provided a framework and API.

Yes they have. It’s called Health. Dump the API and simply add COVID-19 proximity as a metric. On the  Watch, put in a fourth ring that fills up after 24 hours of no close contact with another infected person. Take lab results that are HealthKit compatible (like Quest Diagnostics) and integrate its positive or negative result into the Bluetooth broadcast beacon, eliminating the need to self-report to the Health app. All of this is easily anonymous; privacy is what  excels at. How many lives lost by NOT implementing this?
[automerge]1592333134[/automerge]

And how do you report that you tested positive? This requires a global certification process, by Apple's standards it would be available sometime in 2021/22.

Also, what happens when your phone says: hey, you were standing next to someone who has reported positive. Can you then just stay home? Just because your health app told you to self-quarantine? What if it happens for the third time in a month, would your employer still allow it? Laws are required for this. Laws by moronic, uneducated politicians.

COVID-19 test results are already integrated in the Health app. All you do is link a compatible provider like Quest Diagnostics into the app.

The longer you self-quarantine after the Health app warns you of proximity exposure (and the more awards the  Watch gives you for multiple days of closing your non-exposure ring), the more free iCloud storage space you get, or free extensions of  Music,  Arcade,  TV+. So no, laws from moronic, uneducated politicians are NOT needed.