I downloaded the CovidAwareMN app to my iPhone today. I have heard about this type of technology for some time but had not made the effort until I learned it was being pushed in my home state. CovidAwareMN (CovidAwareMN web site) explains how the app works focusing on security issues. The app is a free download from the Apple app store or the Google Playstore.
The app works using bluetooth (you will need to have bluetooth turned on) and exchanges a randomly generated identification code with another phone with the same app when you are in close proximity for at least 15 minutes. A record of these codes is accumulated. Codes of those using the app and testing positive are downloaded to your phone daily to see if there is a match indicating you have been exposed. You are responsible for indicating you have COVID.
Privacy is maintained by the use of the random codes designated by the apps. If notified, you are not informed of who was responsible for the exposure. This system assumes infected individuals will use the app to indicate they have tested positive. Only phones with the app installed and active exchange the codes.
The article in StarTribune described North Dakota as an early adopter of a similar system, but indicated only 5% of the population had installed the ND app.
Use of this app will not replace more traditional contact tracing, but it can be useful in addressing the situation in which so many seem unaware of how they might have become infected. I doubt this app has any value to me personally because I am retired and so spend no time in a work setting, don’t visit other people’s homes, and very rarely enter a store. I think adding the app to your phone is simply what everyone should do.
Don’t forget your kids. They have phones too.
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