Some states are redesigning their COVID-19 contact tracing apps to address users' privacy concerns and personalization functions, according to a Sept. 19 Wall Street Journal report.
Built using Apple and Google's joint exposure notification system, here are three ways states have re-tooled their go-to-market strategies for their COVID-19 contact tracing apps:
1. The commonwealth of Virginia, University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services all focused on increased privacy transparency for their apps, disclosing with users at the first point of download the information they will and won't collect from them.
2. Arizona officials created a contact tracing app that is designed for different categories of users: people at the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University as well as residents of Arizona in general. When the app alerts users who have been in close proximity to someone who tested positive for COVID-19, quarantine recommendations are tailored according to apparent risk.
If the exposure occurred relatively long ago, the app may recommend the user stays home for a few days instead of quarantining the full 14-day period.
3. North Dakota and Wyoming launched a COVID-19 tracking app that also allows people to personalize recommendations such as adding a business or university affiliation to get information specific to their school or employer. The app also shows how many times it checked to see if the user has been potentially exposed to COVID-19.