Government of Spain will use the API of Google and Apple for the early detection of new cases of coronavirus

The exit from confinement for the coronavirus is being slow, but there is the possibility of a new wave of infections. To prevent this from happening, the development of applications that geolocate people and know with whom we have been in contact would be being studied. The Government of Spain would be working on an App for the early detection of infected Based on Google and Apple API.

Apparently the development of this application would already be well advanced and a pilot program will be launched in the Canary Islands in early June. It seems that the only obstacle, for the moment, is in the Health of the approval for the App to connect to the health computer systems.

Spain will create an App based on Google and Apple APIs

Who has reported on development and its pilot test in the Canary Islands has been Nadia Calviño, Minister of Economic Affairs and Transformation. Behind the development of this application would be the Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence (SEDIA) led by Carmen Artigas.

This application would have been developed so that it can operate between countries, so this Spanish application will be able to share data with users from other countries. Its implementation in the Canary Islands in the beta phase would have to do with the control of the tourist flow.

SEDIA has been working for weeks with engineers and developers from different companies, Telefónica among them. In addition, they also work with computer scientists and cryptographers from the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (Switzerland), who have developed the DP3T protocol. This solution allows the development of private and secure Apps.

The App will be based on the Apple and Google API, which is also based on DP3T. Spain thus joins the strategy that Italy, Austria, Switzerland or Germany have implemented. Initially the Government and SEDIA did not want to depend on Google and Apple, but in the end they have decided to go through the hoop. And it is that Android and iOS are the operating systems used in modern smartphones.

How it works

This application based on the Apple and Google API, when we download it, it will turn on Bluetooth. Our terminal will connect in an encrypted way through Bluetooth and will detect nearby mobiles. Who of positive, will change the situation in the application that will alert the people with whom it has been in contact. The system will not allow the Government to know the identity of those who have been in contact with the infected, they will be the ones who must go to the medical center or preventively isolate themselves.

The use of the Google and Apple API has been chosen due to technical difficulties. Attempts to develop an independent solution have found that the iOS App does not work with the mobile turned off. This implies that during the time that we have the terminal blocked, it does not track anything. Only with the API of the two companies a complete and fault-free effective tracking is guaranteed.

Theoretically, the Google and Apple API has been developed to prevent governments from knowing the identity of those infected. It will be these who must take sanitary measures. At this point there are epidemiologists who consider this point really insufficient.

There is little data on the operation of the application, but it could end up being a new system of tracking and collecting data from users. Above all, the problem is depending on the companies Google and Apple, little given to privacy. Possibly many reject this application for the same reason.

Source: EC