Coronavirus Contact-Tracing

Get ready for Apple & Google this coming weeks you can expect to be deluged with enticements to install contact-tracing apps on your smartphones. The systems use Bluetooth to identify and list the other phones you get close to throughout your day. If the owner of one of those phones becomes infected with COVID-19, you receive an alert. The idea is that you then isolate, preventing yourself from infecting others.

The idea for such a system is not new—there was a simple flu version of the app doing the rounds at a U.K. university a decade ago. But this time around, the launch of TraceTogether in Singapore has convinced the world that this is the best option for digital contact-tracing. Then, a week ago, Apple and Google announced they would standardize the tech and make it available to all. Well, almost all. Subscribe by making a Comment on this blog for more details about this software.