Tim Cook kept a a virtual meeting with the European commissionThierry Breton, yesterday, about the API that Apple is developing in partnership with Google to track social interactions within the anti-COVID-19 framework. At this meeting, Tim Cook announced the availability date for this new tool.
Availability: April 28th
According to Breton's statement after the meeting, Tim Cook reported that the new API will be available next April 28. The only official communication we have had was a media release when Apple announced its partnership with Google in developing this outline. In a press release, Cupertino's company said the solution would be ready in May, without specifying if it would be late or early this month.
During the meeting, and according to the Generation reports, Breton explained to Tim Cook that there were countries that wanted to get more information from users. Information such as anonymous identification and GPS location of a person, according to Breton, Apple should grow to rate each country. While these claims appear to be motivated by recent requests from the French government, let's remember that the API, as designed, does not reveal any personal information to anyone, not Apple or the government. Knowing how Apple protects the privacy of its users, of course solutions that seek to compromise the privacy of citizens will not receive the support of the company.
Let's remember that again participation and use of this tool will be entirely voluntary. As users, we should download one of the apps that use this API and work on our participation. Otherwise the system leaves the API completely inactive.
It is too early to know how useful this proposal will be in the fight against COVID-19, but for now, the forecasts are optimistic. In the meantime, we'll wait for the first apps that use this outline.
