Top Contact Tracing Mobile Apps For Covid-19 in 2020
With the COVID-19 pandemic, technologists everywhere are rushing to create applications, services, and systems for contact tracing: identifying and notifying all those who are familiar with the carrier. Some are lightweight and temporary, some more elaborate and penetrating: the Chinese system, for example, absorbs data, including citizen identification, location, and online payment history, so that local police can look for violators of detention rules.
“Moreover, the two big tech giants Google and Apple also Colloborated”
Software developers from Apple and Google are developing technologies to combat the virus and save lives. How are they doing? By developing APIs or application programming interfaces. Not just Apple and Google, but many developers around the world are working towards the same goal — a healthy world. Health departments of many countries have developed contact-tracing applications for their citizens.
With more than 260 million Android and iPhone smartphone users in the United States alone, Smart Brief recently conducted an informal survey in its Wise You Working newsletter, showing that nearly one-third of respondents are ready to use the contact tracing app for COVID. -19.
Now let's Understand….
What is Contact Tracing?
The government is preparing to deploy a contact tracing team consisting of 3,000 civil servants and health workers and 15,000 call handlers. It underwent a two-week training program and posted several job postings for the unemployed and people interested in helping to handle the calls.
Their telephone tracing is used in conjunction with the smartphone app. The free app tracks when users interact with each other. After downloading, the app will run in the background of your phone if Bluetooth is turned on.
If a user develops coronavirus features, the app relies on them to notify the NHS.
That message triggers an anonymous alert to users with whom they have recently had considerable contact, prompting those individuals to go into custody or be tested.
How Do Contact Tracing Applications Work?
Contact tracing applications automate the tedious manual process of re-locating people who have contact with an infected person. They work like this:
- The app uses Bluetooth ® low power and GPS navigation.
- Once someone has installed the app, it will start logging the distance between the phone where the app is installed and other nearby phones.
- The app stores GPS location data and the log of other people interacting with each other. This log is anonymous to maintain confidentiality.
- If someone tests positive or has the features of COVID-19, they should report it on the app.
- This will trigger an anonymous alert for other app users who have come into significant contact with this person in the past few days.
Image Source-BBC
Now one more issue that everyone has in mind is What About Our Privacy?
When someone installs such apps, they have a real fear of losing their privacy. Doubts about leaking or stealing data by a third party are reasonable privacy issues. Here comes the role of government.
Each country develops its own application without sharing its public health information with any other country. The database is kept anonymous for security. This is called the data localization digit.
Let us now look at some of the best contact-tracing applications developed by different countries.
1.COVID Safe- Australia
Australia’s COVID Safe is a digital contact tracing app for the Australian public.
The app uses Bluetooth® technology to track the location of the person who downloaded the app on their cell phone. It states that if a potential or confirmed patient diagnosed with COVID-19 is contacted, that person should be contacted quickly.
The app was first released on 26 April 2020. One million Australians have already downloaded the app. This application is based on the BlueRace protocol developed by the Singapore government. The app claims to be secure and gives users full control over their information.
2.HaMagen- Israel
HaMagen Hebrew for Shield. As the name suggests, the app protects the Israeli people from coronavirus. The app works in a very simple way. It keeps a log of people’s location and cross-checks a phone’s GPS history with historical geographic data of COVID-19 positive patients from the Ministry of Health.
The application was developed by the Ministry of Health in Israel based on open source code. Open source code, on the one hand, achieves transparency and, on the other hand, enables programmers in Israel and around the world to develop and support this endeavor.
3.TraceTogether- Singapore
TraceTogether was one of the first contact tracer applications to be introduced to the market. It was developed by the Ministry of Health and Government Technology Agency (GovTech) in support of SGUnited. Digital contact tracing app COVID can track contacts of infected persons even if they are strangers. They believe in trace together, stay healthy together.
Government Digital Services Group at Singapore Government Technology Agency. Developed the Bluetress protocol. Trastogather is built on a single protocol. This app is available for Android and iPhone operating systems.
4.Arogya Setu-India
Arogya Setu was developed by the Government of India for the citizens of India. The app connects with the Indian public the health workers needed in the fight against COVID-19. This app aims to enhance the activities of the Government of India such as the contact tracing system. The Department of Health will notify the public in advance of the risks, best practices, and related advice regarding the use of COVID-19.
The app also uses GPS and Bluetooth technology, similar to other apps on the list, and helps support healthcare organizations. It collects health data and sends phone alerts if a person has contact with an infected person.
5.MySejahtera-Malaysia
The Malaysian government has developed the MySejahtera application to help spread COVID-19 in the country. Users can perform health self-assessment on themselves and their family members.
The app also monitors their health progress throughout the pandemic. Also, MySejahtera enables the Ministry of Health (MOH) to monitor consumers’ health conditions in real-time. It helps to take immediate action in providing needed treatments.
Wrapping up
There are many doubts and concerns about data security that people are raising. Most government agencies have confirmed that they do not need any information other than app location and Bluetooth access. However, to secure your data while using the app, you need to check the permissions required by the app. You only need the permissions needed to run the tool properly and nothing else.
We hope your concept of contact tracing applications is now clear. These are some apps and we have added more to the list. The main technologies used by these apps are GPS navigation and Bluetooth
For queries related to mobile app development, feel free to reach us at FuGenX Technologies a leading mobile app development company in the USA and INDIA, delivering quality-driven mobility services across the world.
