Two of the largest technology companies in the world, Google and Apple, have so far put technology at the service of the fight against coronavirus, creating tools such as Google's Coronavirus online tracker, Apple's Face Shield, Free Google Stadia Pro and others.
And now the two companies are joining forces to create a new coronavirus detector that will work on both Android and iOS devices.
The detector will use Bluetooth to help healthcare organizations take advantage of contact tracing technology – a technique used to find out if a user has been in direct contact with any infected person.
The initial goal is to achieve cross-platform compatibility in healthcare apps running on Android and iOS devices. For this reason, the two companies will release their respective APIs in May, which will be integrated into public health authorities' apps
Google and Apple then want to integrate contact tracing technology into their respective platforms . So the next step in this joint effort is to add OS-level changes to enable contact tracing technology on Android and iOS, which will happen in the coming months.
"This is a more robust solution than an API and will allow more people to participate if they choose, as well as interaction with a broader ecosystem of apps and government health authorities," Google said in a blog post.
It was previously suggested that GPS data on smartphones could be analyzed to get a clearer picture of how the virus is spreading and whether people are following social distancing guidelines. But of course, this idea was quickly dismissed, as it raised privacy concerns.
Using Bluetooth technology to analyze and limit the spread of the coronavirus pandemic seems more practical than using GPS. One of the most important benefits is that Bluetooth has an advantage in terms of tracking people in close proximity.
However, the level of accuracy the technology promises when combined with sensitive healthcare data has also raised privacy concerns
Google assured that transparency and privacy are "of the utmost importance" and said that both companies will openly publish information about their work.
