University of California San Diego launches Apple-Google framework COVID-19 app

University of California San Diego will launch a new coronavirus exposure notification app designed with the Apple-Google framework, with wide availability by the end of September.

The voluntary program, which will be available to students, faculty, and staff, works the same as many other tracker apps that have been developed this year. While the framework has been available for some time now, California's Department of Public Health has been hesitant to adopt it. UCSD will function as a proof-of-concept that could open up the app to the rest of the state.

As with other trackers, if a person on campus tests positive for the coronavirus, they can opt-in to notify others of potential exposure.

"We then can offer them, as UCSD Health, a key-code to put into the app and it's that key code that starts that anonymous exposure notification process," Dr. Christopher Longhurst, Chief Information Officer of UC San Diego Health.

That person's identity is anonymized during the process, and all information is held on-device, rather than in the cloud. An "exposure token" is exchanged via Bluetooth instead of WiFi or cellular data, and location data is neither gathered, nor stored in any way.

If a participant is within six feet of someone who has registered as testing positive for the coronavirus, they will receive a notification on their phone alerting them of possible exposure.

"The alert that would come up would say something along the lines of, 'you may have been exposed to a person who was diagnosed with COVID,'" explained Longhurst.

The pilot program, said to launch in late September, will last four weeks. If the program proves successful and is approved by the California Department of Public Health, it will be available to all Californians.

A fourth-year student at UCSD told NBC 7 that he was interested in the program, but was wary that the program might put his privacy at risk.

Pennsylvania recently announced that they too would be launching a COVID-tracking app based on the Apple-Google framework.

12 Comments

Kuyangkoh 7 Years · 838 comments

About 4 years ago

What if someone/everyone or groups of disgruntled make this as April fools day? Then there will be hysteria. The whole campus is exposed per say.

caladanian 10 Years · 380 comments

The unrolling speed is ridiculously slow.

ITGUYINSD 5 Years · 550 comments

caladanian said:

The unrolling speed is ridiculously slow.

Agreed. By the time cities and states get around to adopting this, we'll be full swing into vaccines and then what's the point?

JinTech 9 Years · 1061 comments

ITGUYINSD said:

caladanian said:

The unrolling speed is ridiculously slow.

Agreed. By the time cities and states get around to adopting this, we'll be full swing into vaccines and then what's the point?

I think Apple and Google were hoping that these apps would be made by local governments, and it seems, local governments have no interest in doing this.

gadgetfreak-apple 15 Years · 85 comments

JinTech said:

I think Apple and Google were hoping that these apps would be made by local governments, and it seems, local governments have no interest in doing this.

Yep. The Federal government thinks the states should do it. The states think either the Feds should do it, or the counties. The counties think it should come from the state or the Feds. The cities don't see the point unless it's part of a large initiative at the country or state level. The citizens are divided into two camps: 1) no way in hell big brother is going to trace me (as they proceed to post said thoughts on Facebook ... or 2) please for the love of God would somebody roll this out already.. it does not seem difficult!