Great Britain’s National Health Service reportedly asked the developers of its COVID-19 app to investigate switching to Apple and Google’s contact-tracing approach even as its U.K. launch approaches. The move came after widespread concerns over privacy issues and battery life, according to a published report Wednesday.
Apple and Google released additional details about their coronavirus contact-tracing system Monday, informing public health officials that they will not be able to use Location Services to track people. The companies also said they will limit use of the contact-tracing API to one per country.
Both companies also showed off what an app might look like on people’s smartphones — and shared sample pieces of code local governments could use in their own mobile apps.
A handful of Apple and Google employees turned a novel approach to fighting COVID-19 from a spark of an idea to a pandemic-fighting tool in less than a month. The tech giants combined forces in March, intent on creating a contact-tracing app capable of monitoring the movements of people who might have come in contact with someone infected with the coronavirus.
CNBC reported inside details Tuesday on how Apple’s initial contact-tracing project — code-named “Bubble” — went from two employees to dozens, and enlisted the help of others at Google.
The first version of Apple and Google’s contact-tracing API will reportedly roll out April 28, Apple CEO Tim Cook says.
As noted by French language website iGeneration, Cook revealed the launch date to European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who then shared it during a press conference held Wednesday.
Sen. Josh Hawley wants Apple and Google to have some skin in the game when it comes to keeping data private in their joint coronavirus contact-tracing project. Hawley’s idea? That the Apple and Google CEOs — Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai, respectively — should take personal responsibility for ensuring the data is kept private.
“If you seek to assure the public, make your stake in this project personal,” the Republican senator from Missouri wrote Tuesday in a letter to Cook and Pichai. “Make a commitment that you and other executives will be personally liable if you stop protecting privacy, such as by granting advertising companies access to the interface once the pandemic is over.”
France is calling on Apple to loosen its Bluetooth restrictions on iPhone that are said to be holding back a government contact-tracing app designed to minimize the spread of COVID-19.
Apple currently prevents iOS apps from using Bluetooth connectivity in the background under certain circumstances. Its policy blocks France from moving forward with its app, a Tuesday report reveals.
The American Civil Liberties Union said Friday it is cautiously encouraged by a commitment to privacy by Apple and Google as they develop Bluetooth-based contact-tracing technology to track the spread of COVID-19.
But the civil liberties group says the two tech giants must resolve “certain important privacy-related questions” key to winning trust from a public growing wary about who sees their data.
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.”
Google has confirmed in an email to Nest customers on Tuesday that it is throttling camera quality to “conserve internet resources.”
The temporary measure, which will roll out to every Nest user over the coming days, is one of many Google and other tech giants have made in an effort to reduce network strain during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Google will take a play out of Apple’s playbook as it reportedly ramps up development of its own processors for use in Chromebooks and Pixel smartphones.
Under the code-name Whitechapel, Samsung is collaborating with Google on the design of the chip. Samsung also supplies chips to Apple.
Apple and Google have given further details on their plans for a joint contact tracing technology to combat coronavirus, saying the program will focus on privacy, will be voluntary, and that data will only be shared with public health organizations.
The world was starting to develop a healthy skepticism for tech companies and their claims of making data privacy a priority. The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal seemed to get our attention and we began to understand how easy it is for groups to track our digital lives.
Then COVID-19 spread with bullet speed across the world and now surveillance of our movements to track the virus is sounding to many like a good idea.
Apple has registered its first COVID-19-related domain name as the total number of global confirmed cases inches towards 2 million this week. The iPhone-maker scooped up the domain name AppleCoronavirus.com but the site isn’t being put to use yet.
Apple and Google revealed Friday that they’re teaming up to take on one of the most colossal tasks in the fight to stop the spread of COVID-19: contact tracing.
If you’re like me, you probably hadn’t heard about contact tracing until the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it’s proven to be an important tool in countries that have seen a drop in their reported cases of the coronavirus.
With a little background, here are the basics of contact tracing and what you need to know.
In a rare moment of collaboration, Apple and Google said Friday they have teamed up to create a contact-tracing program that uses smartphones to stop the spread of COVID-19.
The privacy-focused solution created by the companies will use anonymous Bluetooth “chirps” from phones as a way to tell where an infected person has been and who they’ve come in contact with.
TikTok is chipping into the global fight against COVID-19 with one of the largest financial contributions we’ve seen yet from a major tech company. The video-sharing platform has been one of the biggest bright spots of joy and inspiration during this quarantine age, and now it’s ready to pay it back.
On Thursday, the company revealed it is pledging $375 million in relief that will be distributed in various ways to individuals, hospitals, companies and other organizations.
Apple and other big tech companies are scrambling to update their summer intern roles in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis.
Google, Microsoft, Twitter and IBM all revealed to Axios that they will be moving all of their internships to online-only positions for the summer. One of the only major companies that plan to have on-site roles is Apple, but many of them will be online too.
A growing number of third-generation Apple TV owners are experiencing errors when attempting to watch YouTube content.
It seems the problems occur when watching certain videos, while others play just fine. One user who contacted Apple was told that the problem is on Google’s end — not with Apple TV.
Apple’s Information Systems & Technology division (IS&T) has come under scrutiny in a new book that analyzes the business practices and cultures of America’s biggest tech companies.
Scoring a coding job at Apple is a dream gig for most developers, but an excerpt from Alex Kantrowitz’s book, Always Day One, reveals that if you accept a job on the IS&T team, you better be ready for “a Game of Thrones nightmare.”
TikTok, the popular video-sharing app that is especially popular among young people, is going to get some fresh competition from Google later this year.
Google is reportedly planning to create its own version of TikTok with a new Youtube feature called “Shorts” that will live inside the platform’s apps on Android and iOS.
Google in recent days began rolling out a brand-new look for its Podcasts app on iOS for mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad. The overhaul integrates a number of new features into a cleaner user interface that’s split into just three tabs.
The changes are designed to make using Google Podcasts easier and more enjoyable — and to bring it up to speed with rivals.
YouTube and Amazon Prime Video confirmed Friday they will will start throttling video quality in Europe in an effort to reduce the strain on network infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The temporary measure will see all YouTube videos displayed in standard definition by default, though, it is still be possible for viewers to select a higher resolution.
Google Stadia just got a nice little update that gives it an edge over rival streaming services like Nvidia GeForce Now. It can now stream games to your Mac in glorious 4K (or Ultra HD).
Upgrading your video quality requires a simple settings change. You will also need a 4K display, and an internet connection that’s fast enough to handle 4K video.
You no longer need to fire up Chrome just to explore our planet inside Google Earth. The service today rolled out support for three new browsers, while the ability to use Google Earth in Safari is coming … eventually.
Security researchers discovered a critical flaw in Wi-Fi chips made by Broadcom and Cypress Semiconductor that were used in Apple devices.
The discovery was presented at the RSA security conference in San Francisco this morning, revealing that billions of devices could have been affected. Attackers could use the vulnerability to decrypt private data sent over the air. Most manufacturers have already released a patch to fix the issue, but it’s unclear how many of the devices have been updated.
The following Apple devices were affected: