Tracing the virus: Tech giants Apple, Google shake hands to counter coronavirus

Apple and Google are all set to put aside their market rivalries to join hands in fight against Coronavirus pandemic that has brought entire globe to a standstill.

The two companies aim to help public authorities with contact tracing of the COVID-19 patients.

The two companies wrote in a joint blog post announcement: “Software developers are contributing by crafting technical tools to help combat the virus and save lives. In this spirit of collaboration, Google and Apple are announcing a joint effort to enable the use of Bluetooth technology to help governments and health agencies reduce the spread of the virus, with user privacy and security central to the design.”

Both companies said this would be “comprehensive solution” to tracing the COVID-19 patients through “application programming interfaces (APIs) and operating system-level technology”, which will help track the contacts. The Bluetooth technology will also come in use for the same.

Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted, “Contact tracing can help slow the spread of COVID-19 and can be done without compromising user privacy. We’re working with Sundar Pichai and Google to help health officials harness Bluetooth technology in a way that also respects transparency & consent.”