New York state has launched a new app that will tell its users when they’ve been in close contact with individuals who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 by using bluetooth technology with other users who download the service, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday.
The application does not collect any personal information, or identifying information, from its users, and instead only tracks other users who you’ve come in contact with.
When a user tests positive for the virus, a health representative from the state will give them a code that will unlock a service that alerts other users who’ve come in contact with them. Neither the location of contact, nor any identifying information, will be shared.
"The app will know where a person who tested positive was through their cell phone,” Cuomo said. “And the app can tell you if you were within 6 feet of that person.”
The app will not use geographical data, like GPS positioning. Instead, it will use the bluetooth signal from other cell phones with the app to identify when a user has come in contact with someone else who’s downloaded the service.
It was developed by the state in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, Google, and Apple, Cuomo said. Larry Schwartz, a former top aide to Cuomo, helped arrange and develop the partnership and app over the last several months.
Schwartz said on a call with reporters that the project was funded using a combination of federal dollars and money from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Aside from tracking contact with other users, the app also shows users data on the percent of positive cases diagnosed in New York by day, along with the number of positive cases and tests conducted. Users can filter that data by county.
The app, called ‘COVID Alert NY’ is free and available for both Apple and Android devices.
