COVID-19 apps

COVID-19 apps
	Example proposal for a location-based COVID-19 contact tracing app: Contacts of individual A (and all individuals using the app) are traced using GPS co-localizations with other app users, supplemented by scanning QR codes displayed on high-traffic public amenities where GPS is too coarse. Individual A requests a SARS-COV-2 test (using the app) and their positive test result triggers an instant notification to individuals who have been in close contact. The app advises isolation for the case (individual A) and quarantine of their contacts.
Type	Mobile software applications

COVID-19 apps include mobile-software applications for digital contact-tracing - i.e. the process of identifying persons ("contacts") who may have been in contact with an infected individual - deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2]

Numerous tracing applications have been developed or proposed, with official government support in some territories and jurisdictions. Several frameworks for building contact-tracing apps have been developed. Privacy concerns have been raised, especially about systems that are based on tracking the geographical location of app users.

Less overtly intrusive alternatives include the co-option of Bluetooth signals to log a user's proximity to other cellphones. (Bluetooth technology has form in tracking cell-phones' locations.^[3]) On 10 April 2020, Google and Apple jointly announced that they would integrate functionality to support such Bluetooth-based apps directly into their Android and iOS operating systems. India's COVID-19 tracking app Aarogya Setu became the world's fastest growing application - beating Pokémon Go - with 50 million users in the first 13 days of its release.

^ Cite error: The named reference Ferretti et al 2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Apps for COVID-19 Information". WebMD. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
^ Kwet, Michael (2019-06-14). "In Stores, Secret Surveillance Tracks Your Every Move". The New York Times (published 2016-06-14). Retrieved 2021-11-12. Recent reports have noted how companies use data gathered from cell towers, ambient Wi-Fi, and GPS. But the location data industry has a much more precise, and unobtrusive, tool: Bluetooth beacons.

[Ferretti_et_al_2020-1] Cite error: The named reference Ferretti et al 2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2] "Apps for COVID-19 Information". WebMD. Retrieved 2022-02-20.

[3] Kwet, Michael (2019-06-14). "In Stores, Secret Surveillance Tracks Your Every Move". The New York Times (published 2016-06-14). Retrieved 2021-11-12. Recent reports have noted how companies use data gathered from cell towers, ambient Wi-Fi, and GPS. But the location data industry has a much more precise, and unobtrusive, tool: Bluetooth beacons.

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