Apple and Google have gone into an unprecedented collaboration during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, allowing smartphones to communicate across platforms. In a joint statement, the tech giants shared that their contact tracing technology will enable smartphone users to control their own data. They also added that this system would likely be shut down after the pandemic ends.
Technology has been at the forefront during the ongoing crisis in maintaining contact during social distancing. However, there have been concerns over privacy and data breaches. Therefore, all the main tech companies are trying to ensure their users that they are working on various initiatives to ensure that their privacy is well protected.
"Each user will have to make an explicit choice to turn on the technology. It can also be turned off by the user at any time," according to a document released by the tech giants.
The document further added that; "This system does not collect location data from your device, and does not share the identities of other users to each other, Google or Apple. The user controls all data they want to share, and the decision to share it."
This joint project is expected to be rolled out in early May. The announcement comes with health agencies around the world scrambling to develop apps that use the wireless Bluetooth technology in smartphones to help track the spread of the disease by detecting when someone has been in proximity to an infected person.
The Apple-Google document said public health authorities would have access to the technology but that any apps "must meet specific criteria around privacy, security, and data control." The companies added that "exposure notification data will be stored and processed on device," rather than on government servers.
That means authorities would be able to access beacons provided by users confirmed as positive for the virus, only if they have opted in to sharing them.
Debate around the subject of digital contact tracing and privacy implications are still ongoing, with tech experts saying that the system of alerts can help slow down the spread of the disease by keeping individuals up to date in real time and ensuring that they opt for immediate precautionary measures; privacy activists have warned against establishing databases which could be used for surveillance, even after the pandemic.
Even before the pandemic the data breaches and its large scale impact, especially with the case of Facebook has left the majority quite skeptical about the privacy protection promises made by tech organizations. Only time will tell how this is going to unfold in the long run.