Google’s Covid-19 contact tracing system to be available for phones running Android 6.0 and above

Google and Apple have teamed up to develop a contact tracing mechanism to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

Here’s what you need to know about Google’s contact tracing (AP)

Google's Covid-19 contact tracing system will be rolled out via update to Google Play services on Android smartphones. The feature will be available to all smartphones running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or above.

According to Google, the Bluetooth-based contract tracing system framework API will be available as early as next month. An integrated API with the OS will be available in the coming months, reported The Verge.

A separate TechCrunch report revealed that Google and Apple will allow only public health authorities to access the contact tracing API. The companies are also working to ensure the digital privacy and safety of users.

"Apple and Google admitted that no system is completely secure — it's a widely known concept in cybersecurity that nothing is "unhackable." Servers can get breached and data can get lost. But in decentralizing the data, it makes it far more difficult for anyone with malicious intentions to access the data, they said," said the TechCrunch report.

In case you didn't know, Apple and Google formed a rare alliance to develop a contact tracing mechanism to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. The two companies will launch APIs that will "enable interoperability between Android and iOS devices using apps from public health authorities".

Apps based on these APIs will be available on respective app stores.

In India, the government has launched a similar contact tracing app called Aarogya Setu. The app uses Bluetooth and location data to help users to keep a tab on whether they had come in contact with a Covid-19 patient.