Google and Apple, two global tech giants, have joined forces for a problem that seems increasingly difficult to fight every day. It is the latest rescue frontier created by the two brands in the creation of a shared contact tracking system compatible with both iOS and Android devices to keep COVID-19 contagion under control. In collaboration with world governments and their health systems, it is divided into two fundamental steps:
The first step will allow each smartphone to periodically record the presence of other mobile phones around him (for a radius of about 100 meters), through a unique identification code (ID) which will be collected by the phones nearby (thanks to a Bluetooth system) and kept in an internal register, complete with a time indication.
The second step involves the health system: if the owner of a smartphone is positive for Coronavirus, he can send his ID to a database managed by the institutions, which thanks to his database will have the opportunity to recover the other IDs with which he entered in contact. At that point, a notification will notify all those who have been exposed to “patient zero” of the possibility of contagion. It will be easier for them to undergo the necessary checks before manifesting the symptoms.
Both giants expect maximum respect for privacy, since the IDs will be completely anonymous. Apple will make the service available through a regular update of the iOS system (thus also involving iPads), while Google will make it available through the application store. If someone does not want to participate in the tracking, the ID system can normally be disabled from the Settings. Another help from Apple after making the masks. An innovative system that will surely work if there is a collaboration from everyone, but above all a good and precise management by the health authorities.
