With the beta launch of iOS 13.5, Apple finally installed an API where it worked with Google on it. to get in touch with people affected by the coronavirus. This interaction aims to find a common way for both Android and iOS devices will work with applications developed by the health departments of each country, thus helping to know that we were in contact with a COVID-19 victim.
Notification of exposure
The concept behind this development to know if we have been in contact with someone infected with the virus, informing us of the positive side so that we can take appropriate action. If you are exposed to an identifiable person, your device alerts you to the alert.
How this API works based on the use of our devices as beacons (also known as ibeacons), which works with other devices from Google and Apple via bluetooth, converting an anonymous identifier to all those phones around us.
Although these two technical people work on the API, its implementation falls to national or regional health authorities for each state, because these are the last ones to use in their applications. Google and Apple have developed the app with privacy and security in mind, so there is no data other than an anonymous identifier that lasts for 15 days for all information provided.
In any case, the use of this technology can also be chosen anyone can disable this feature from their devices if you consider it appropriate. Here you will find a manual on how to disable this option on iOS.
How does it work?
Nearly everyone has a smartphone, this is worth knowing who we are connected to. This is what this API is based on, namely Register people around us anonymously so that they can contact the affected people. Mechanics for example are as follows:
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1- Today on Monday morning, two people were at the same place, for example the establishment. One has an Android device and the other has an iPhone, one with a Health app that uses Google Express and Apple API.
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2- At some point, both people are close to the establishment of a period of time. Since they both carry a smartphone, they are found to be beacons and take turns pointing to the unknown is transmitted by the application to another. So each smartphone records an encounter with the other, only between them.
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3- A few days later, one of these people had COVID-19. This will be eligible for access to the application that the health authorities have made available to them, where he confirmed with medical documents that he was really affected and was reviewing his condition. This information is currently being updated to a cloud linked to an anonymous identifier.
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Once this is done, daily our devices will check at the end of the day if any people we have interacted with in the last 14 days are affected by this virus, and you will notify us by notice indicating that we have been communicating with someone through COVID-19. In this case, when the two people have shared their identities, if one of them trusts the other one can receive a warning of anonymity completely anonymously. In this way two people who do not really know each other and who do not share personal information between themselves do not know if they have been disclosed
, protecting the privacy and privacy of others. -
5 Now, the person who received the warning for its disclosure should only follow the steps that indicate their health plan to protect themselves and their environment. If this person eventually becomes infected, they will follow the same steps we have shown to alert fellow participants. their anonymous identifier, for example at work or in the store, thus informing them that they may have been infected.
In both cases they made clear guidelines on how to proceed:
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Waiting for iOS 13.5 release
At present Apple has released the beta only for iOS 13.5, thus allowing developers and institutions to work on the application's built-in API. Once a social change has been issued and governments are launching their own health applications to fight the coronavirus, this service will be made available to everyone who wants to use it.
There is currently no app running this update, and it may be less useful since it is a beta version of iOS right now. Once the app and the public version of iOS 13.5 have been published, we should download a health app compatible with our health department or the government and allow us to interact with API notifications, thus allowing the system to run in the background on our smartphones.
As the whole process progresses, Possible diagnosis and prevention will help prevent the virus from spreading easily., and preventing the deterioration of the health care system in the event of a recurrent viral load.
What information is shared?
Anonymous identifiers are only stored locally on devices, and are not shared with third parties except in two cases:
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1- When an app user becomes infected and decides to update their status in the app, thus allowing your teammates to be informed that they are communicating with the person carrying the virus.
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2- When a user receives a disclosure notice Contact date, how long it lasted and the intensity of the recorded Bluetooth signal were shared.
If you want to know more about how privacy is treated, Apple has enabled a website that has all the details about data treatment by the API, and you can check it out here.
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