Sundar Pichai talks working with Apple for COVID-19 exposure logging, what
it means for the future
Apple and Google are working together on the
<https://9to5mac.com/2020/05/23/apple-and-google-exposure-notification-api/>
cross-platform Exposure Notification API for COVID-19 contact tracing. In a
new interview with
<https://www.wired.com/story/sundar-pichai-google-not-entirely-remote/>
Wired, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai discussed the origins of the
partnership with Apple, and what it could mean for their relationship going
forward.
According to Pichai, teams at both Apple and Google had started
independently working on technology for contact tracing. The engineering
teams quickly realized that it made sense for the companies to team up, at
which point Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook started talking directly. Pichai
explained:
"Both teams independently had started working on technology to support
health agencies in their contact tracing work. Very quickly both sides
realized that for this to work well it has to be available everywhere. So
engineering teams across Android and iOS organically started reaching out.
At some point, Tim and I decided to exchange notes and talk directly."
Pichai added that he generally meets "periodically" with Tim Cook because
the two companies are existing partners "in many areas." As for the new
partnership on COVID-19 exposure notifications, the decision was easy. "In
this case, we felt the sum was greater than the parts," Pichai explained.
Interestingly, Pichai believes that all it will take for the Exposure
Notification API to be successful is for 10 to 20% of users to opt-in:
Opt-in is an important principle. We also realized we have to give users
real privacy guarantees. I think we have struck the right balance. Even if
only 10 to 20 percent of users opt in, this will have a real, meaningful
impact. The more, the better.
Going forward, Pichai says that he is committed to finding other
opportunities for Apple and Google to work together:
"Large companies working together in service of society is really good for
the world. I am committed to finding other opportunities, and I had the same
sense from Tim on this."
The full Sundar Pichai interview is well worth a read and can be found at
<https://www.wired.com/story/sundar-pichai-google-not-entirely-remote/>
Wired. Pichai also discussed these topics in a
<https://9to5google.com/2020/05/19/google-pixel-future-rcs-chat-covid-19-sun
dar-pichai/> recent interview with The Verge.
<https://9to5mac.com/2020/05/23/apple-and-google-exposure-notification-api/>
Here's how Apple & Google's Exposure Notification API works while securing
privacy
Apple <https://9to5mac.com/2020/05/20/ios-13-5-released-features-exposure/>
officially released iOS 13.5 to the public this week. The update includes
changes such as Face ID improvements for masks, new Apple Music features,
and more. Perhaps most importantly, however, the update brings the first
version of the Exposure Notification API developed by Apple and Google.
Here's how that feature works, while also preserving your privacy.
How it works
When a user enables the feature and has an app from a public health
authority installed, the device will regularly send out a beacon via
Bluetooth that includes a random Bluetooth identifier. When two people are
near each other, their phones will exchange and record these Bluetooth
identifiers.
If someone tests positive for COVID-19, they can voluntarily report the
positive test to the Exposure Notification application for their region.
These screenshots show public health authority developers how to walk users
through the process of reporting that they tested positive for coronavirus,
including a unique test identifier:
The Exposure Notification API will also likewise download a list of the keys
for the beacons that have been verified as belonging to people confirmed
positive for COVID-19, and check against that list. If there is a match, the
user may be notified and advised on the next steps. What constitutes as an
exposure? This is up to the public health agencies to decide, but the API
itself includes a minimum of 5 minutes of interaction for it to be
considered a match.
Think of it like this: Person A and Person B spend more than 5 minutes
together at a restaurant. During this time, their smartphones exchange the
anonymous Bluetooth identifier. They go their separate ways, but Person A
tests positive for COVID-19 a few days later and chooses to report that
positive test via the Exposure Notification app. Person B will then receive
a notification saying that someone they recently interacted with has tested
positive for COVID-19.
The public health authorities can determine what the next steps are. If
ample testing is available, the app might suggest that Person B get tested
even if they are asymptomatic. If testing is constrained, the app might
suggest that Person B monitor for symptoms and only get tested if they
become symptomatic, while also self-isolating.
Privacy is a tentpole of the Exposure Notification API. Perhaps the biggest
privacy protection in Apple and Google's Exposure Notification API is that
location data plays no part in how it works. The two companies say that
these applications should collect as little data as possible, and location
data is not needed for this Bluetooth-based approach.
Apple and Google have repeatedly emphasized that much of the control is in
the hands of the public health authorities themselves. Apple and Google are
providing the Exposure Notification API, and developers can adjust the
details as-needed while preserving the privacy and requirements of the API.
In fact, the API is only used by public health authorities, and can only be
used for COVID-19 purposes. Not just any developer can access this API and
implement it into their application. In the long-term, the companies say
they are still exploring the possibility of allowing health authorities to
send exposure notifications without requiring an app.
With the release of iOS 13.5 this week, Apple and Google also said they had
made further privacy enhancements to the Exposure Notification API:
* Temporary Exposure Keys are now generated randomly instead of being
derived from a tracing key
* All metadata associated with Bluetooth is now encrypted to make it
more difficult to identify a person
More details on the Exposure Notification API:
* The entire system is opt-in
* Other applications for contact tracing will be allowed in the App
Stores; they can adopt Apple and Google's API, but they must remove all
Location Services features and adopt the privacy frameworks of the Apple and
Google API
* Contact tracing data is only stored on a user's device
* Contact tracing data is only processed on a user's device
* Public health agencies can define what constitutes an exposure event
* Public health agencies can determine the number of exposure events a
person has had
* Transmission risk of positive cases can be factored into the
definition of an exposure event
* Public health agencies can contact exposed users based on a
combination for the API and data that users voluntarily choose to input into
the app
No news to announce yet on whether Apple will promote these applications,
such as in the App Stores
What do you need to do?
As of right now, the only thing you can do is
<https://9to5mac.com/2020/05/20/iphone-how-to-install-ios-13-5/> download
and install iOS 13.5 on your iPhone. Again, what Apple and Google have
developed isn't an application, but rather an API on top of which public
health agencies can build their own applications.
Currently, no public health agencies have released an application for
COVID-19 exposure notifications that actually uses the Apple and Google API.
Apple says that 22 countries around the world have requested and received
access to the API - so presumably there are applications on the way, we just
don't know when.
In the United States, three states have committed to building applications
using the Exposure Notification API: Alabama, North Dakota, and Virginia.
Many other states say they have no plans to participate, and you can
<https://9to5mac.com/2020/05/21/covid-19-exposure-notification-api-states/>
find the full list here. It's important to keep in mind that as state health
officials become more knowledgeable on how the Apple and Google API works,
their plans might change.
Once you have an app from a public health authority, you can enable and
manage exposure logging in the Settings app on your iPhone. To access this
interface, simply open the Settings app, tap Health, then look for the
COVID-19 Exposure Logging pane. Here, you enable Exposure Logging, delete
exposure logs, and manage installed applications.
By <https://9to5mac.com/author/chmiller44/> Chance Miller
===========================================================
The fb-exchange mailing list
Manage account, subscribe or unsubscribe:
//www.freelists.org/list/fb-exchange
Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/fb-exchange ;
Administrative contact: insight@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
===========================================================
