The state of California will roll out a voluntary smartphone tool that will alert people if they spent time near someone who tests postive for COVID-19.
California's Governor Gavin Newsom made the announcement Monday, following news that cases and hospitalizations are soaring throughout the state.
According to Newsom's announcement, the tool doesn’t track people’s identities or locations but uses Bluetooth wireless signals to detect when two phones are within 6 feet (1.8 meters) of each other for at least 15 minutes, officials said. The app will reportedly be ready for use on Thursday.
The system was co-created by Apple and Google, and is already available in 16 other states, Guam and Washington, D.C. The report adds that most residents of those places aren't using the app.
Californians will be able to activate the tool in their iPhone settings or on Android phones by downloading the CA Notify app from the Google Play store. The encounters are temporarily logged in a way that doesn’t reveal a person’s identity or geographic location.
If people who have activated the technology test positive for the virus, they get a verification code from the California Department of Public Health and can use that to send an anonymous alert to other participating phone users they might have exposed over the past 14 days.
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