Screenshot of the COVID Alert app, now available on Andriod and Apple devices
Today, announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this morning, the new COVID alert app is now available to anyone in Ontario on your iPhone and Andriod devices.
The app, first developed in Ontario, helps notify users if they may have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
Downloading the app is voluntary, and serves as more of a contact tracing tool of COVID-19. Once the app is fully functioning in their province or territory, users who test positive for COVID-19 will receive a one-time-key from their health authority that they can enter into the app. When the key is entered, COVID Alert will notify other users who may have come in close contact with that person for at least 15 minutes in the past 14 days, so they can contact their local public health authority for guidance. The COVID Alert app uses Bluetooth technology to detect when users are near each other. If a user tests positive for COVID-19, they can choose to let other users know without sharing any personal information. Ontarians who receive an exposure alert can then get tested and take action to help keep everyone around them from spreading COVID-19 throughout the community.
In order to ensure everyone’s privacy is safe, the app uses strong measures to protect any data it collects and does not track a user’s location or collect personally identifiable information. The app does not collect any personal information or health data and does not know or track the location, name, address, or contacts of any user.
“While we have made good progress over the past few months, COVID-19 remains a very serious threat to the health of Canadians,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “As we continue to gradually restart our economy, innovative technologies like this new app will help us keep our families and communities safe and healthy.”
“I am proud of the fact that this Ontario-made app will now be available to individuals and families right across the country,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford. “It will be another powerful tool to help us stop the spread of this deadly virus and keep people healthy and safe. I encourage everyone to download it onto your handheld device, it is free, easy to use, and the responsible thing to do.”
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