The Apple/Google coronavirus contact tracing API hasn’t seen widespread adoption to date, but does now appear to be gathering pace, with more countries adopting it and others switching to it.
Finland, Ireland, and Portugal are adopting it; Austria is switching to it; Singapore and Australia are both considering making the change …
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a coronavirus contact-tracing privacy bill, the Exposure Notification Privacy Act.
If enacted, it would offer wide-ranging protections for app users…
Apple and Google officially made their contact tracing software available with iOS 13.5 for local health authorities to create COVID-19 contact tracing apps. As we previously reported, US states are lagging in offering supported apps but Italy appears to be one of the first countries to launch its app based on Apple and Google’s security and privacy-focused Exposure Notifications to offer digital contact tracing for coronavirus.
Privacy campaigners are planning a legal challenge as it was revealed that the UK contact tracing app retains personal data for up to 20 years …
The first app to take advantage of the Apple and Google Exposure Notification API has been released in Switzerland, according to a new report from the BBC. The app is called “SwissCovid” and is currently available to select essential workers.
It appears that Germany, Switzerland, Latvia, and Estonia are four of the 22 countries to adopt the Apple/Google API for their coronavirus contact-tracing apps …
Apple and Google created a coronavirus contact tracing API to help governments create their own apps – but an initial report suggests that take-up hasn’t been high. Just 22 countries and a handful of US states have so far requested access, and a subsequent iOS and Android update to allow contact tracing to work without an app appears to be some months away.
Some countries have created contact tracing apps that involve huge infringements of privacy. The one used in South Korea, for example, collects surname, sex, year of birth, residential district, profession, travel history, and more. China’s app is linked to a unique government ID, identifying specific individuals.
Many countries still haven’t managed to release a contact tracing app at all …
The UK contact tracing app won’t be ready in mid-May as promised, admits the UK government – and it may not even be ready on June 1, the target date for children to start returning to school. The app does not currently use the Apple/Google API.
The delay has been revealed as analysis of the source code found ‘serious’ security problems …
After releasing the golden master to developers earlier this week, Apple is releasing iOS 13.5 to the general public today. The update brings quite a few changes and new features prompted by COVID-19, including the Exposure Notification API, Face ID enhancements, and much more.
Analysis of the source code for the UK contact tracing app has revealed no fewer than seven security flaws.
One of these is that the random code assigned to users is only changed once a day, making it much easier to de-anonymize individuals …
An iPhone, ultrasound wand and an augmented reality app could allow an at-home coronavirus test which allows a remote doctor to diagnose a COVID-19 infection. The FDA has so far licensed it to monitor the condition of existing COVID-19 patients.
The beauty of the setup is that no medical training is required by the person using the wand – indeed, it can even be done by the patient themselves …
Coronavirus location-tracking has been one of the biggest controversies with contact tracking apps …
France has announced that it will go ahead with a so-called ‘Apple tax’ this year, whether or not an agreement is reached on an international proposal to ensure tech giants receive the same tax treatment across 137 countries.
France was the first European country to decide to impose a tax on the local revenues of Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon – after President Macron accused tech giants of having ‘permanent tax haven status‘ …
We’ve outlined your best shot at making Face ID work while wearing a mask, but it’s still hit-and-miss. That’s just one problem Huami aims to solve with a hi-tech self-disinfecting mask …
Netflix is gradually lifting coronavirus-related streaming quality limits in Europe. Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video have all complied with a European Commission request back in March to reduce bandwidth to help people work from home during the lockdown …
Foxconn says that the coronavirus impact on smartphone demand is set to be ‘enormous,’ and recovery will take ‘a very long time.’
Company chairman Liu Young-way made the comments as Foxconn reported first-quarter profits down 90% year-on-year as a result of production shutdowns in China at the height of the coronavirus crisis there …
Apple has published its latest Supplier Responsibility Report today and along with the usual updates on how its partners are doing when it comes to keeping workplaces safe and respectful for employees. However, this edition includes specifics on how Apple has modified procedures at its suppliers in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Apple has released the latest version of its COVID-19 application for iPhone today. This update includes new recommendations for healthcare workers, as well as additional information for quarantining and more.
Could your Apple Watch detect coronavirus, using data like ECG and respiration rate? That’s a question a Stanford University study is aiming to answer.
If you own an Apple Watch or other wearable and fall into one of three categories, you can enroll in the health study …
Apple sources have denied that there is any schedule for corporate staff to return to work at Apple Park and other company offices. Most are working from home during the coronavirus crisis.
A recent Bloomberg report stated that the first phase of returning people to work in Apple offices has already begun, and a second phase is scheduled for July …
As Apple and Google beta test their new Exposure Notification API for COVID-19 contact tracing, states in the US are starting to lay out their own plans. A new report from CNBC details Utah’s approach to contact tracing, which does not include using the standard proposed by Apple and Google.
Uber has finalized some new rules to keep both its drivers and riders as safe as possible during the coronavirus pandemic. The changes that take effect on May 18 will see masks being required and more in the US, Canada, parts of Europe, India, and more.
I’m a huge privacy advocate who’s written a lot about the topic because it’s a massively important issue.
It’s important for two reasons: First, because the kind of technology we have available to us today poses privacy risks never before imagined. China, for example, has demonstrated the ability of its massive network of facial-recognition cameras to track one individual among millions as they travel from one side of a city to the other.
Second, because once you allow something to happen, it is very, very hard to roll it back. Crises are particularly dangerous in this respect, because it’s easier to justify extreme measures at extreme times – like the coronavirus – but once a government goes down a particular road, it’s vanishingly rare that they abandon the approach once the crisis has passed…
The European Union has rejected the idea of making coronavirus contact tracing apps mandatory for international travel.
The proposal was one of a number of possible measures being put forward as a way to allow people to resume use of airlines and international train services without the risk of carrying the virus between countries …
