COVID Alert
On July 31, 2020 Health Canada released their COVID-19 app using the Apple & Google API framework to alert users of possible contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19.
Today Health Canada released COVID Alert, its national notification app, which leverages the APIs developed by Apple & Google. On it’s App Store page, Health Canada describes how the application works:
COVID Alert uses Bluetooth to exchange random codes with nearby phones. It does not use or access any location data. COVID Alert works by determining how far away other phones are by the strength of their Bluetooth signal.
Several times a day, COVID Alert checks a list of codes from people who tell the app they tested positive. You’ll get a notification if a code you received matches one of the positive codes.
The app estimates the degree of contact based on the strength of the Bluetooth signal between two devices, and logs an “exposure” if you are nearer than 2m to an individual for more than 15-minutes. Should one of you contract COVID-19, you have the option of uploading a code into the app into a national server, which your phone cross-references. If a match is discovered, you will receive a notification that you have possibly been exposed to COVID-19, and provided with steps about what to do next.
Given the sensitive nature of this type of tracking technology, the app outlines that it does not track a users location, name or address, the place or time when you were near someone, or if you are currently near an individual who was previously diagnosed.
Some provinces in Canada have developed province-specific COVID-tracking applications, but this latest application represents a unified Canadian strategy, and the first app using Apple & Google’s contract tracing API. It’s presently only working in the province of Ontario, but plans are underway to roll out tracking across other regions.
External Link
App Store: COVID Alert
