Apple and Google are working on coronavirus contact-tracing technology for iOS and Android

Google and Apple are working on a joint effort to introduce opt-in Bluetooth-based COVID-19 contact tracing APIs in mid-May for iOS and Android.

The companies say the technology will not track the users' location or identity.

Contact tracing can help slow the spread of COVID-19 and can be done without compromising user privacy. We're working with @sundarpichai & @Google to help health officials harness Bluetooth technology in a way that also respects transparency & consent. https://t.co/94XlbmaGZV

- Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 10, 2020

To help public health officials slow the spread of #COVID19, Google & @Apple are working on a contact tracing approach designed with strong controls and protections for user privacy. @tim_cook and I are committed to working together on these efforts.https://t.co/T0j88YBcFu

- Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) April 10, 2020

The idea is to slow the spread of the coronavirus that causes the potentially fatal illness COVID-19 by "allowing users to opt into a system that catalogs other phones they have been near," Reuters reports:

The rare collaboration between the two Silicon Valley companies, whose operating systems power 99% of the world's smartphones, could accelerate usage of apps that aim to get potentially infected individuals into testing or quarantine more quickly and reliably than existing systems in much of the world.

The companies said they started developing technology two weeks ago to allow mobile devices to trade information via Bluetooth connections to alert people when they have been in close proximity with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, the sometimes deadly respiratory disease associated with the novel coronavirus.

The technology will first be available in mid-May as software tools available to contact tracing apps endorsed by public health authorities, with Apple and Google approving use of the tools. However, Apple and Google also plan to release software updates in the coming months so that users do not have to download any apps to begin logging nearby phones.

The companies said the technology will not track the location or identity of users, but instead will only capture data about when users' phones have been near each other, with data being decrypted on the user's phone rather than the companies' servers. GPS location data is not part of the effort, the companies said.

Some responses from Twitter, below.

Is there anything in the Apple/Google API to stop me from pretending I tested positive to troll everyone my phone passed on the street?

They'll never know who triggered the alert, right? Seems ripe for abuse.

- Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) April 10, 2020

Bluetooth signals traverse walls, linking you to your neighbor even if you've never actually been in actual physical contact (for example, in an apartment building).

- ashkan soltani (@ashk4n) April 10, 2020

I'm conflicted. Someone on a TV show I just watched made a good case for this...but knowing all of our governments...they will abuse this https://t.co/cuYtPYselJ

- Lexi Alexander (@Lexialex) April 10, 2020

This is a common misconception about what's happening. Google and Apple aren't jointly releasing a contact tracing app. They're creating an API that public health apps can use.

Which means you still need to figure out a way to get people to download a 3rd party app. Very hard. https://t.co/FyJWooR2wW

- Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) April 10, 2020

"If a person learns they have coronavirus, they could indicate on their app they've been infected - and people whose smartphones have been in their vicinity would be notified, regardless of whether their devices run on Apple's or Google software." $AAPL https://t.co/INV33vOLXo

- Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla) April 10, 2020

BREAKING: New infrastructure for contract tracing is coming to our phones using Bluetooth.

Strong privacy protections- but I hope EVERYONE opts in for one another. This is time to pull together in new ways.

Thank you to @Apple & @Google https://t.co/kZ9Lv8TNT1

- Andy Slavitt @ (@ASlavitt) April 10, 2020

This seems like a better-than-most approach. Privacy-focused, opt-in (via an app), cross-platform, and doesn't use location. https://t.co/NPBsVx4zYe https://t.co/D23sPc67Qo

- Zack Whittaker (@zackwhittaker) April 10, 2020

This is what happened in China -- where Chineses citizens needed to show their 'red/orange/green' code before they were permitted to leave the house or to use public trans, etc https://t.co/2K0EydcvmN

- ashkan soltani (@ashk4n) April 10, 2020