Google and Apple have clarified that governments won't be able to mandate the use of their contract-tracing technology for tracking the coronavirus, which the companies announced last week.
On a call with reporters today, the companies confirmed that the tech will remain strictly an opt-in for users of smartphone apps, and said that this principle would extend to government entities should they try to make it a legal obligation.
Spokespeople for Google and Apple also said that only public health authorities will be able to build the respective apps, which will be regulated through their respective app stores.
The companies plan to roll out the first phase of the tracing app by mid-May. This will consist of an API for both Android and iOS for third-party apps to make use of.
They will then roll to the second phase of an operating system-level update that would enable contract tracing without the download of a standalone app.
However, both companies clarified today that this will still remain opt-in even at the system level, and said that if a user tested positive for COVID-19 or got a notification they had passed someone who tested positive within 14 days, they would still need to download the public health app to send or request more information.
Google and Apple also said that access to the APIs for building apps would be restricted to agencies that are legally allowed to practice public health. Most of the information will also remain on-device, however a server will be used to send and receive keys to someone who tests positive.
The companies' contract-tracing technology uses Bluetooth to send and receive signals from people nearby. If someone tests positive for COVID-19 and tells the app, anyone who was in close proximity of that person in the two weeks prior will receive an alert that they could be at risk.
