SINGAPORE — Apple and Google have collaborated to create a software that will enable mobile applications such as TraceTogether to perform contact-tracing work more accurately and effectively, the tech giants said in a statement on Thursday morning (May 21).

Improvements include a feature called "exposure notifications", which uses privacy-preserving digital technology to tell someone he may have been exposed to the coronavirus.

It also enhances privacy by encrypting all data associated with Bluetooth. TraceTogether works by exchanging Bluetooth signals between nearby mobile phones that have the app installed, estimating the distance between users and how much time they spent in contact.

The new software, called the exposure notification application programming interface (API), will be available starting Thursday on both Apple and Android platforms, the tech giants said.

An API is a software that can be incorporated into an existing contact-tracing app to improve it.

The API has been enhanced to include:

• allowing public health agencies to determine what constitutes an exposure event and how many an individual has had

• allowing public health agencies to factor in transmission risk of positive cases in their definition of an exposure event

• allowing public health agencies to contact exposed users. At the moment, the TraceTogether app depends on a self-reporting system.

In terms of best meeting the public health agencies’ needs for technological support while respecting user privacy and consent, the following improvements have been made:

• Strengthening the privacy of the system to make it more difficult for third parties to use app information to try and track people

• Encrypting all data associated with Bluetooth traffic to make it more difficult to identify a person

In coming up with the solutions, Apple and Google said: “Over the last several weeks, engineers from across our two companies have worked together, reaching out to public health officials, scientists, privacy groups and government leaders all over the world to get their input and guidance.”

Some challenges discovered worldwide have been raised by users of the TraceTogether app, which was developed by the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) in Singapore collaboration with the country's Ministry of Health.

This includes feedback that the app drains battery life quickly for iPhone users as it cannot operate in the background, as well as concerns over a loss of privacy.

Apple and Google assured users that these applications will follow some principles. For example, public health agencies can only access information from the app for Covid-19 response efforts, and the applications must require consent from the user before the software can be used.

On Thursday, representatives from both tech giants said they have no intentions of creating their own contact tracing applications and reiterated that they only wanted to equip health authorities with the software to do so. 

They added that there will also be limited access to it with only government agencies or app developers that have been hired by them having access to the API.

The API will then enable contact tracing apps developed by their respective health authorities to work with each other.

The goal is to avoid fragmentation across the ecosystem, said the representatives, adding that the more there are different types of apps covering the same geographic space, the more there is a possibility of interoperability issues.

Previous media reports about the collaboration between Apple and Google stated that the API would store data for 14 days.

Responding to a question from the media on whether this was a sufficient length of time or if this time period could be adjusted, Google and Apple representatives said that feedback from health authorities is that they were "comfortable" with 14 days.

They added that this is the time window that health authorities need to be able to make the appropriate health determination.

TODAY has reached out to GovTech to ask how the new software will be integrated into the TraceTogether app.

Additional reporting by Low Youjin