Dispelling Misconceptions About the Coronavirus Tracker
According to recent news headlines, a coronavirus tracker exists in the settings of all mobile phones. Social media is now awash with messages of concern from many mobile users who are alarmed by reports that tech-giants Google and Apple have made changes to users’ devices by inserting a coronavirus tracker.
Misconceptions About the Coronavirus Tracker
This article does not intend to persuade for or against the coronavirus tracker, which indeed exists. Instead, this article merely intends to present some currently known facts about the tracker as well attempt to dispel some of the misconceptions surrounding it. A couple of the most common misconceptions are:
A coronavirus tracking app has been installed on my phone
The coronavirus tracker has been installed without my permission
Misconception 1: A Coronavirus App Has Been Installed On My Phone
The use of the term ‘app’ by alarmed commentators is misleading. Neither Google nor Apple has installed a coronavirus tracker app on your phone.
What they have done is distinctly different from installing an app; they have added an Application Programming Interface (API) to your phone. An API is not an app but a framework that could allow an app to function if the user decides to install the app.
Misconception 2: The Coronavirus Tracker Has Been Installed Without My Permission
A coronavirus tracker has not been installed on your device. Instead, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, they have added an API to your device’s operation system, not an app.
It is standard practice for Google to update Android on users’ devices just as it is routine for Apple to make changes to iPhone users’ mobiles and it is likely that by using the phone’s operating system, whether that’s Android (Google) or iOS (Apple), they have been making periodic changes to your phone’s setting and operating system for some time.
It may reassure some concerned mobile phone users that the API can not do anything until the user downloads a coronavirus tracking app. Even if a user decides to install a coronavirus tracking app from a government organisation, for instance, it is likely that the user would then need to grant permission to the app to use aspects of the phone’s functionality, including Bluetooth or location tracking.
What This Might Mean for Coronavirus Tracker in the UK
If or when a coronavirus track and trace app launches and is made available throughout the UK, the API (which is now present on both Android and iOS phones in the UK) is what will be used to source information relating to COVID-19 carriers. Once a user reports having symptoms of coronavirus through the track and trace app, the API will report to other app users that they have been in contact with a potential COVID-19 carrier. It is said that users of the track and trace app will be anonymous.
At present, an app is being trialled in the Isle of Wight. Should this app be made available nationally, it is understood that usage would be voluntary.
Google services now showing the option to allow COVID-19 Exposure Notifications.
Conclusion
While some misconceptions exist surrounding Apple and Google’s coronavirus tracker API, it is not unreasonable for mobile phone users to be cautious about how companies and other organisations access devices and use one’s data.
In the case of the coronavirus tracker API, it is important to keep in mind that an app has not been installed and that if you decide to install an app, you will likely continue to have control over the app’s permissions.
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