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Apple, Google build virus-tracing tech directly into phones

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Posted at 2:47 PM, Sep 01, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-01 14:47:48-04

Apple and Google are trying to get more U.S. states to adopt their phone-based approach for tracing and curbing the spread of the coronavirus by building more of the necessary technology directly into phones.

That would make it easier for people to run even if their local public health agency hasn’t built its own compatible app.

The tech giants on Tuesday launched the second phase of their “exposure notification” system, which is designed to automatically alert people if they might have been exposed to the coronavirus.

Only a handful of U.S. states have built apps using the Apple-Google technology, which has seen somewhat wider adoption in Europe.