Apple & Google To Add COVID-19 Contract Tracing Notifications To Future Mobile Operating System Updates

On September 1, 2020, Apple and Google announced that future versions of the iOS and Android operating systems for mobile devices will include the companies’ coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exposure notification system, called Exposure Notifications Express. The system became available in April 2020, but using it required downloading and installing an app.

The exposure notification system uses Bluetooth signals from smartphones that have opted-in to determine how closely and for how long two phones were nearby, without collecting the location or identify of the users. The system notifies the user about the potential exposure if the user comes . . .