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With the number of cases of COVID-19 surging around the world, we need to do more to stop the spread of the virus. You may wear masks, socially distance, wash your hands, and avoid crowds to prevent catching the virus, but there’s another easy step you can take to help stop the infection from spreading.
With a few easy steps, you can use your phone to help stop the spread of the disease. As you may recall, in the spring, when the infection was spreading rapidly, Apple and Google announced that they had joined forces to develop technology for iPhones and Android phones to alert people that they have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
=> See, Apple and Google Unite to Develop COVID-19 Contact Tracing Technology
This technology, called Exposure Notifications, is now available in countries around the world, through apps and through settings on your phone. By using this technology from Apple and Google, you can get alerts when you’ve been exposed to someone with COVID-19. You can also use Exposure Notifications if you test positive to alert others that they’ve been exposed, without revealing your identity.
Exposure Notifications
Exposure Notifications uses your phone to alert you when you’ve been near someone who’s tested positive for COVID-19 who is also using this technology on their phone. Like contact tracing, Exposure Notifications lets people know when they’ve been exposed to someone who’s been infected with the virus, so they can quarantine, be alert for symptoms, get tested, and get treatment.
One advantage of Exposure Notifications is that it uses technology to keep track of other people nearby, even when you don’t know the person. If you live, work, shop, commute, or engage in activities with others, you may not know everyone you’ve been in contact with recently. Or you may not recall everyone you’ve been nearby recently. Exposure Notifications technology can alert others to their exposure to the disease regardless of who the infected person is. The infected person’s identity isn’t revealed in the alert.
From Apple and Google: “Traditional methods of contact tracing are critical to containing the spread of infection. Technology can support and augment these efforts by allowing public health authorities to quickly notify people who may have been exposed to a person who has contracted COVID-19, including those the person might not know directly. This starts with Exposure Notifications on your smartphone. These will help your public health authority alert you if you’ve been exposed to COVID-19.”
How Exposure Notifications Work
This video from Apple and Google explains how Exposure Notifications works:
With Exposure Notifications, iPhones and Android phones connect using Bluetooth when they’re close to each other. They exchange random ID numbers that change every 10-20 minutes to prevent them from being used to identify an individual person. Every day your phone checks all the random ID numbers associated with positive COVID-19 cases against its own list of close contact ID numbers for the past 14 days.
If there’s a match between the two lists, your phone will alert you of a possible COVID-19 exposure and give instructions about what to do next. From Apple and Google: “If a user is notified that they have come into contact with an individual who is positive for COVID-19 the system will share the day the contact occurred, how long it lasted and the Bluetooth signal strength of that contact, as well as the type of report (such as confirmed by test, clinical diagnosis, or self-report). ”
According to the companies, “Google and Apple jointly created the Exposure Notifications System out of a shared sense of responsibility to help governments and our global community fight this pandemic through contact tracing.”
Exposure Notifications works best when more people use it. So by using Exposure Notifications, and spreading the word about it, you can help stop the spread of COVID-19.
To learn more about how Exposure Notifications works, check out the Frequently Asked Questions about Exposure Notifications website from Apple and Google.
How to Use Exposure Notifications
Exposure Notifications is available on iPhones and on Android phones using apps from government authorities around the world. Not every area is participating with Exposure Notifications, but you can check to see if an Exposure Notifications app is available for your region.
XDA has a helpful list, including links, of countries and regions around the world that offer Exposure Notifications apps: Here are the countries using Google and Apple’s COVID-19 Contact Tracing.
Note, the United States does not have a country-wide Exposure Notifications system. So if you’re in the U.S. you must check whether your state or territory has an Exposure Notifications app.
Exposure Notifications in iPhone Settings
Exposure Notifications are available for iPhone running iOS 13.7 and later. To turn on Exposure Notifications, tap Exposure Notifications in Settings, then Continue.
Choose your country or region. If your country or region participates with Exposure Notifications, you’ll be directed to download the app for your area.
The U.S. states and territories that have an Exposure Notifications iPhone app as of this writing include:
- Alabama
- Delaware
- Guam
- Michigan
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Pennsylvania
- Virginia
- Wyoming
How to Use Exposure Notifications on Android Phones
Exposure Notifications work on Android phones running Android 6.0 or later. To use Exposure Notifications on your Android phone check the Google Play store for a COVID-19 alert app for your region. Download the app and follow the instructions to set up your alerts.
In the U.S., Android apps using Exposure Notifications are currently available for:
- Alabama
- Colorado
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Guam
- Michigan
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Pennsylvania
- Virginia
- Wyoming
Privacy
Apple and Google have acknowledged that privacy must be a priority for this technology to be widely adopted. Here’s what you should know.
Your location cannot be tracked by these apps. Exposure Notifications apps use Bluetooth, not location, to determine proximity to other phones.
Your identity is not shared by these apps. Neither Google, Apple, nor other users of these Exposure Notifications apps can identify the users of the apps. Apple and Google say, “The Exposure Notifications System itself does not use your location or share other users’ identities with the app, Google, or Apple.”
You can control whether you use Exposure Notifications apps. This system is opt-in and you can opt out at any time.
Only public health authorities can develop Exposure Notifications apps. According to Google and Apple, these authorities “must meet specific criteria around privacy, security, and data use” to develop these apps.
Your Thoughts
Do you have an Exposure Notifications app for your area? Have you downloaded the app and opted in to get COVID-19 exposure alerts? Do you like the idea of getting alerts about your possible COVID-19 exposure?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
Kudos! Now to get everyone to sign-on:)
Hi Carol, You’re right, the more people who use these COVID-tracking apps the better. Please help spread the word so that others can learn about these apps.
Great post! It saddens me that there are people who are against this type of app because of privacy concerns. If we actually all used technology like this, we would be able to end this crisis much quicker.
Hi Kevin, Yes, the more people who use these COVID-tracking apps the better we may be able to contain the spread of the virus. Privacy concerns are understandable, but these apps do an admirable job of addressing those concerns.
Hi Carolyn,
Thank you for sharing this information with readers. Exposure Notifications App is beneficial to monitor and decrease COVID-19 case rate. Like this some countries and airlines are using same Apps for Passengers tracking and self quarantine before travel.
Hi Zeshan, Yes, contact tracing can be very important in helping to stop the spread of the virus. The more people who use these apps the more effective they can be. As this virus spreads exponentially, we need alternate ways of contact tracing to notify people when they might have been exposed.
This is truly a great invention. I think each of us should be aware of the horrible harms of Covid 19.
Everyone, let’s fight back the epidemic. This application will be of great help to us
Hi Vitos, Exactly. The more people who use these apps the better they work. We are at war with this virus and these apps can be weapons we use to stop the spread of the virus.