The European Union might adopt Apple and Google’s contact-tracing API to help stop the spread of COVID-19, a Reuters report published Wednesday suggests.
The article cites Chris Boos of the Pan-European Privacy Preserving Proximity Tracing initiative. Paraphrasing Boos, it notes that adopting the Apple/Google tech “will make it quicker to get systems for tracing coronavirus infections up and running.”
Boos says the tech could help shorten the path to deployment. PEPP-PT will make a progress update Friday.
Google and Apple announced their contact-tracing method to stop the spread of COVID-19 late last week. Their solution uses Bluetooth “chirps” from phones to tell where an infected person has been and who they’ve come into contact with. This, in turn, could help track the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The high-tech approach could radically reduce the manpower required for traditional contact tracing
“All of us at Apple and Google believe there has never been a more important moment to work together to solve one of the world’s most pressing problems,” the companies said in a press release. “Through close cooperation and collaboration with developers, governments and public health providers, we hope to harness the power of technology to help countries around the world slow the spread of COVID-19 and accelerate the return of everyday life.”
Contact-tracing could help European Union
Whether Google and Apple’s API will be used remains to be seen, however. As Reuters notes:
“[A] divide has opened up between supporters of decentralized systems – including Apple and Google – and advocates of a centralised approach in which sensitive data is held on a server. The latter includes some governments, raising concerns that they could put citizens under surveillance.”
President Donald Trump gave slightly backhanded praise to the technology developed by Google and Apple. During a White House briefing Monday, Trump praised Google and Apple’s “amazing” development. However, he noted that many people “have some very big constitutional problems” with it.
He did not elaborate on those concerns. However, Apple and Google maintain that their contact-tracing tech will prioritize “privacy, transparency and user control.”
