How you’ll use Apple and Google’s coronavirus tracking tool

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Earlier today, Apple and Google announced a Bluetooth-based COVID-19 contact tracing platform that could alert people if they’ve been exposed to the novel coronavirus. Contact tracing is a huge component in ending mass pandemic “stay-at-home” orders, and while phone tracking can’t replace traditional methods like interviews, it can supplement them.
Google and Apple are using Bluetooth LE signals for contact tracing. When two people are near each other, their phones can exchange an anonymous identification key, recording that they’ve had close contact. If one person is later diagnosed with COVID-19, they can share that information through an app. The system will notify other users they’ve been close to, so those people can self-quarantine…

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