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Smartphone App Warns If You've Been Exposed to Coronavirus

Michelle Quinn

   SAN FRANCISCO - The smartphone in your pocket may soon let you know if
   you've been exposed to COVID-19.

   As communities around the world consider the first steps toward
   reopening, there is fear that once people begin moving, the virus will
   spread. But COVID-19 presents unique challenges to stop its spread.
   Some who are infected never had symptoms; those who do fall ill can
   spread the disease for a day or two before experiencing a cough or body
   chills, some of the common COVID-19 symptoms.

   Apple, Google and others are working on a plan to use smartphones to
   inform those who have crossed paths with an infected person. They call
   it "[1]exposure notification."

   A digital tool for health authorities

   Next month, Apple, the maker of the iPhone, and Google, whose Android
   operating system powers the majority of smartphones in the world, will
   release software tools that will allow devices to exchange information
   via Bluetooth. Public health authorities and their partners will build
   apps that they will use to notify people if they've been exposed to
   someone who has tested positive for the virus.

   But will it work? There are many hurdles ahead. Many people will need
   to download the app for it to work properly, and many may want to be
   reassured that their privacy won't be compromised, their data won't be
   hacked. And there are many technical challenges. For example, if the
   app reduces the phone's ability to function.

   "This is complicated because it's untested speculative technology,"
   said Harper Reed, an entrepreneur and former chief technology officer
   for the Obama campaign. "If it doesn't work, we can put people in
   danger. But if it does work, early [2]notification of exposure can
   dramatically help our communities limit and survive COVID-19."
   WATCH: Here's how contact tracing works

References

   1. https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/4/24/21234420/apple-google-contact-tracing-exposure-notification-update
   2. https://exposurenotification.org/

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