Your phone already has a coronavirus tracer - which you didn’t know had been installed
A tracer which can alert you if you’ve been in contact with someone who has coronavirus is already installed in your Apple or Android mobile phone - and all you’ve got to do is activate it
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BY EMILIA BONA, JANE TYLER
09:45, 20 JUN 2020
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Your phone already has a coronavirus tracker - even if you didn’t install it yourself.
It’s been revealed that all iPhone and Android phones have the tool which enables the user to see if they’ve been exposed to someone with Covid-19.
Liverpool Echo is reporting that the tracker has been automatically turned off on all phones - but if turned on, could play a massive part in preventing the spread of the virus.
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The new tool, which is called “Covid-19 Exposure Logging”, is a contact tracing system. It’s an add-on which is intended to alert people who have been in contact with someone infected.
Apple and Google announced the joint effort on April 10, and Apple rolled out the plan with its iOS 13.5 which was released on May 20.
Owners of iPhones can find it by going into ‘Settings’, then ‘Privacy’ and then ‘health’.
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If you have an Android device, the tracker is kept under ‘Setting’ and then ‘Google Settings’.
The tracker works by exchanging random IDs with other devices using Bluetooth. This then enables an app to notify you if you may have been exposed to Covid. But exposure logging cannot access any data in, or add any data to, the Health app.
According to Apple, users can’t turn on the Exposure Logging without an authorised app that can send exposure notifications.
News of the tracker is welcome, after it was revealed last week that the Government has been forced to abandon its own contact-tracing app after spending three months and millions of pounds on technology that experts had repeatedly warned would not work.
In an embarrassing U-turn, Matt Hancock said the NHS would switch to an alternative designed by Apple and Google - but this is months away from being ready.