Utah Department of Health exploring the use of Apple & Google technology for COVID-19 contact tracing

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Division of Well being says the state intends to discover using Apple and Google’s COVID-19 Publicity Notification instruments to inform individuals in Utah about potential exposures to the virus by their good gadgets.

Because of this, the state well being division says it is canceling its earlier bid to get different firms to submit their proposals so as to add their Bluetooth monitoring expertise to the state’s Wholesome Collectively app.

That app got here below scrutiny as a consequence of privateness issues with location monitoring, so the state turned that characteristic off.

It also faced pushback on Utah’s Capitol Hill, as a result of the state paid some huge cash for one thing that’s not seen as helpful with regards to COVID-19 contact tracing.

The Utah Division of Well being continues to be encouraging individuals within the state to obtain and use the Wholesome Collectively app as a software to self-assess COVID-19 signs, discover testing facilities, get check outcomes, and discover present data on the right way to stop the unfold of COVID-19.

With the Apple and Google publicity notification expertise, anybody notified a few potential publicity is not going to get any details about the one who probably uncovered them.

When you opt-in to the notification system, the Publicity Notifications System will generate a random ID on your machine.

To assist guarantee these random IDs can’t be used to establish you or your location, they alter each 10-20 minutes.

Your cellphone periodically checks all of the random IDs related to optimistic COVID-19 instances in opposition to its personal listing.

You do not want to have the app open for this course of to happen.

If there’s a match, you’ll obtain a COVID-19 publicity notification, with additional directions out of your public well being authority on the right way to hold you and the individuals round you protected.

The state says no location or publicity data is shared with the state or different third events both by Apple and Google’s expertise.

This expertise solely works in the event you determine to opt-in. Should you change your thoughts, you’ll be able to flip it off at any time.

Thus far, 12 different states are utilizing Apple and Google’s contact tracing expertise.

Solely authorities public well being authorities have entry to the expertise that allows publicity notifications, and their apps should meet particular standards round privateness and safety.