The state of Utah will launch a COVID-19 contact tracing system based on Apple and Google’s exposure notification API today, Wednesday, February 17.
A press release by the State’s health department says Utahns can opt-in to receive and share notifications about possible COVID-19 exposures. Smartphone users will receive three alerts over the next week encouraging them to turn on the notification system.
The system, which uses the Apple – Google privacy-respecting exposure notification system, notifies users if they have come in contact with an individual that has tested positive for COVID-19. Utah has originally rejected the system, instead opting to use its own system that used less accurate GPS and Bluetooth tracking.
“Contact tracing is an important part of how public health responds and stops disease outbreaks. People who have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 are more at risk of getting infected and making others sick,” said Navina Forsythe, director of the Utah Department of Health Center for Health Data and Informatics. “Exposure Notifications is a form of electronic contact tracing that uses encrypted or anonymous tokens exchanged through your phone and the phones of those around you to keep an encrypted log of who you’ve been in contact with. The service doesn’t track the location of the smartphone user and instead relies on anonymized interactions through Bluetooth technology.”
Utah’s system will not use an individual app, and will instead require users with the latest versions of iOS and Android to enable exposure notification in the Settings app on their device. When two users with the feature enabled encounter each other, an anonymized token will be exchanged that will log that encounter for 14 days. If one of the users tests positive for COVID-19 and logs a positive result into the system, individuals that came into close contact with them over the last 14 days will be alerted to go get tested and self-quarantine.