StopCovid: Google and Apple could help the application track contacts with patients

 

StopCovid could benefit from the participation of Google and Apple. The two American giants propose indeed to make available to the authorities an API to facilitate the tracking of contacts via bluetooth. The government seems open to the proposal. 

Cedric O, Secretary of State in charge of digital could examine the joint solution that Google and Apple are developing to track contacts with coronavirus patients. The two giants are indeed working on an API (programming interface) that all developers will be able to use in their application. It could eventually also benefit StopCovid.

This API will be available in May - it aims at simplifying the development of the technical part of the coronavirus tracking applications, by allowing to optimize the detection of false positives (imagine for example that you "cross" a sick person, you on the sidewalk, he in a bus that passes in front of you...), but also by simplifying the communication between iOS and Android devices.

StopCovid could use a turnkey solution from Google and Apple.

Apple also shared some data on how the system works.  It takes into account the many limitations of Bluetooth technology with tricks to get around them. For example by taking into account the duration of interaction with a person carrying the virus. The other side of the solution proposed by Apple and Google is that it is potentially more respectful of personal data.

Apple and Google are indeed subject to texts such as the RGPD in Europe to ensure that the collection and processing of personal data is respectful of privacy. This is nothing new, and both groups already have turnkey technical solutions to effectively manage this data.

Apple explains that contact data will only be stored in your Health application if you have previously agreed to it. If you haven't configured your Health app, contact information from the last 14 days will remain easily accessible if you decide to install it (but will be deleted afterwards).

These efforts seem to be of interest to the French authorities in any case. A member of the cabinet of the French Secretary of State for Digital Affairs, Cedric O, said, about using the Google and Apple solution in the application to fight against coronavirus: "there is no religion on this. If a private solution respects all the rules laid down, particularly in terms of free, voluntary work and protection of personal data, it will be looked at.

Source : phonandroid.com