Was a COVID-19 tracker really added to your phone? What to know about viral post

Maybe you’ve seen it, a social media post claiming that a coronavirus tracker has secretly been added to your cellphone.

Variations of the post have been spreading across social media platforms and read something like this:

“So when everyone was having ‘phone disruptions’ earlier this week, they were adding COVID-19 Trackers to our phones. If you have an Android phone, go under Settings, then GOOGLE settings and it’s there. If you have an iPhone, go to settings, privacy, then health. I don’t think you really overstand what they’re trying to do here.”

So is it true? Not exactly.

While you may notice a new entry in the settings folder on your phone — it was included in a May 20 update for iPhones, and there’s a Google Play Services update for Android users, 9to5Mac reported — it doesn’t mean an app has been installed, according to Forbes.

Further, you can’t even turn on the option without choosing to install a participating app which activates the exposure notifications, the outlet reported.

Back in May, Apple and Google released a joint statement explaining that they had launched an application programming interface (API) to help public health officials inform people who may have been exposed to coronavirus.

“What we’ve built is not an app—rather public health agencies will incorporate the API into their own apps that people install,” the statement said.

In other words, the API is a framework that allows apps developed by other agencies to work on your phone. It does nothing on its own, 9to5 Mac reported.

Phone users decide whether they want to use the exposure notifications feature by turning it on in settings then downloading a compatible app, the statement said. The system does not collect or use the phone’s location information.

What if you’ve been diagnosed with COVID-19? You still get to choose whether to report it on a public health app, according to the statement.

The Exposure Notification API is only available for use by regional and government health agencies, 9to5 Mac reported. States are slowly rolling out these apps, which Google and Apple carefully review before they ever land in the app store to ensure the apps aren’t collecting any private information data from the user, according to the outlet.

If you choose to download a contract tracing app, you’ll be asked to opt-in at several stages before the application will work on your phone, Forbes reported.

This story was originally published June 21, 2020 at 8:05 AM with the headline "Was a COVID-19 tracker really added to your phone? What to know about viral post."