Colombia has removed the contact-tracing feature in its official app for informing residents about the novel coronavirus after experiencing glitches, but aims to rebuild …
Colombia has removed the contact-tracing feature in its official app for informing residents about the novel coronavirus after experiencing glitches, but aims to rebuild using potentially more reliable technology from Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google, a government official told Reuters.
The previously unreported moves by the Colombian government add to a growing number of accounts of countries adopting the Apple-Google technology and dropping alternatives aimed at helping them curtail outbreaks faster.
Contact tracing involves identifying, testing and isolating people exposed to the virus before they spread it to others, something that governments globally have said is vital to keep their economies safely opened until a vaccine exists. Apps that tap the Bluetooth sensors in smartphones to detect encounters with those who test positive could speed the process, experts say.
But some governments that planned to forge ahead with such apps without the help of the American technology giants have been forced to reverse course. The head of Australia’s contact-tracing app told senators on Tuesday his team is moving to the Apple-Google technology over a glitchy internal solution, and the government agency behind the U. K.’s forthcoming app disclosed in a contract signed on Tuesday that it is asking engineers to test the Apple-Google system amid privacy concerns about its previously planned alternative.
The decisions have wide ramifications for using smartphone apps to log encounters between people to make it easier to find and alert those who crossed paths with a virus-carrier.
Apple and Google have said their Bluetooth-based technology will work more smoothly than alternatives and be trusted by consumers wary of government surveillance, with the companies banning government collection of app users’ GPS location and other personal data. Several governments including France, the United Kingdom and some U. S. states contend Apple and Google’s rules to protect privacy prevent the robust data analysis needed to slow the virus’ spread.
