Apple and Google have recently released their Exposure Notification API to the public, and now the onus is pretty much on governments and app developers to take advantage of it, and it looks like we might have our first candidate. A team in Switzerland will be the first to release an app that will be using the Exposure Notification API.
The team is developing a contact tracing app that will be using the Exposure Notification API to better track and trace the spread of the coronavirus. The app will be rolled out to the Swiss army, hospital workers, and civil servants, but it is expected to be rolled out to a wider audience in the near future.
However, while Switzerland might be on board, other governments have expressed disinterest in the API. This is because in a bid to help maintain the privacy of the user, Apple and Google have baked in several restrictions to prevent user information and location from being abused by third-party services.
The Exposure Notification API relies heavily on user consent and these restrictions have frustrated government officials, some of whom are now building their own contact tracing solutions as an alternative. Apple and Google had also previously stated that once the pandemic is over, they have plans to shut their contact tracing service down.
Filed in . Read more about Apps, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Google and Health. Source: bbc