{"id":30897,"date":"2020-06-22T09:02:54","date_gmt":"2020-06-22T13:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/?p=7850"},"modified":"2020-06-19T14:33:29","modified_gmt":"2020-06-19T18:33:29","slug":"heres-how-the-exposure-notification-system-from-apple-and-google-protects-your-privacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/heres-how-the-exposure-notification-system-from-apple-and-google-protects-your-privacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s How the Exposure Notification System from Apple and Google Protects Your Privacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apple recently released iOS 13.5, incorporating a new Exposure Notification API in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The Exposure Notification API could lower contact tracing costs, reduce the spread of COVID-19, prevent life-changing health consequences, and save lives. At worst, it won\u2019t prove particularly effective. In neither case does it pose a threat to personal privacy.<\/p>\n

Why have Apple and Google\u2014two companies that normally compete tooth and nail\u2014formed this unprecedented partnership? Contact tracing is one of the key techniques employed by public health authorities in slowing the spread of COVID-19. It involves gathering information from an infected person about those they\u2019ve been in contact with, enabling authorities to learn who might have been the source of the infection and who they may have infected. It\u2019s a slow, laborious, and error-prone process\u2014do you know or even remember all the people you\u2019ve come in contact with over the past few weeks?\u2014but it\u2019s helpful nonetheless.<\/p>\n

To speed up this process and make it more accurate, Apple and Google are building exposure notification capabilities into their respective smartphone operating systems. A large percentage of the population carries a smartphone running either iOS or Android, and since these phones have the capability to detect when other phones are in their vicinity via Bluetooth, Apple and Google realized they could use technology to alert people when they had been exposed to a person who later tests positive for COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Their solution comes in two phases. In the first phase, Apple and Google are releasing the Exposure Notification API, and that\u2019s what just happened with iOS 13.5. This API, or application programming interface, allows apps written by public health authorities to work across both iOS and Android devices, something that\u2019s never been possible before. The first key fact to understand is that only public health authorities will be allowed to write apps that leverage the Exposure Notification API.<\/b> It cannot be incorporated into sketchy social media apps.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it seems likely that many people will never learn about or download those apps. So in the second phase, Apple and Google will build the exposure notification technology directly into iOS and Android, so it can work without a public health authority app being installed.<\/p>\n

The second key fact to understand is the entire system is opt-in.<\/b> You must explicitly consent to the terms and conditions of the program before it becomes active on your phone. That\u2019s true whether you get an app in the first phase or rely on the integration in the second phase. And, of course, if you change your mind, you can always turn it off in the app or the operating system settings.<\/p>\n

How does it work? Apple and Google have developed an ingenious approach that ensures that those who opt-in to the technology can use it without worrying about privacy violations.<\/p>\n

Your phone creates a Bluetooth beacon with a unique ID derived from a randomly generated diagnosis encryption key. The system generates a fresh diagnosis key every 24 hours and stores it on your phone for 14 days, deleting all older keys. Plus, the unique Bluetooth beacon ID that your phone broadcasts to other phones in your vicinity changes every 15 minutes. Similarly, your phone reads the unique IDs from nearby phones and stores them locally. This approach ensures privacy in three important ways:<\/p>\n