Norway will use the Apple-Google API to replace its failed COVID-19 app

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iOS
After the privacy issues surrounding its first attempt at a contact tracing app, Norway is planning to develop a second, this time using the privacy-focused technology produced in Apple and Google's joint project.

The NHS COVID-19 app used in the United Kingdom, which uses the Apple-Google API.
The NHS COVID-19 app used in the United Kingdom, which uses the Apple-Google API.


Norway is set to become the next country to develop an app for tracing the spread of COVID-19 across the population, one that will use Apple and Google's contact tracing system. The technology, which is used to keep track of when people get in close proximity to others and whether they are at risk of infection from a carrier, will be at the heart of the new app for Norway, following the country's troubled first attempt.

Health minister Bent Hoeie advised to Reuters on Monday that the app would use the Apple-Google system, instead of a home-grown version. "This app is purely for tracking infection, it doesn't store data centrally," stressed Hoeie.

The initial app, Smittestopp (translated as "infection stop"), was launched in April as an early attempt to use apps to monitor the spread of the virus, as well as to inform users if they were at risk following contact with someone who carried it.

However, as the app collected data and stored it in a central location, it came under fire from data agency Datatilsynet in June. The Guardian reports the agency issued a warning that it would stop the Norwegian Institute of Public Health from handling the data collected by the app.

The agency believed the relatively low usage of the app by 600,000 of Norway's 5.4 million population, coupled with the limited spread of the virus in the country, meant there was too much of an invasion of privacy, disproportionate to its effectiveness. Though the health institute disagreed with the findings, it confirmed it would suspend work on the app and delete collected data.

Under the new app, the data would be decentralized and highly anonymized, with privacy informing its design. Data is stored on the device locally instead of on a server, but anonymous identifier beacons would be shared to the rest of the network if the user is positively diagnosed, only with the user's permission.

Norway follows many other countries in using the technology, and it's not the only one to switch tactics during the pandemic. The United Kingdom's app was originally built using a centralized system, but was later reconstructed to use the Apple-Google API.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,879member
    How sad is it that other entire nations are adopting a well-made, ready-to-use implementation of exactly what is needed, and most of our US states aren't. They'll all on their own, competing for supplies and making the same duplicated evaluations & efforts on tools like this. What a colossal failure our lack of federal response has been. A waste of so much money and life.
    sphericroundaboutnowwatto_cobraseanjcaladanianmuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 2 of 8
    larryjwlarryjw Posts: 1,031member
    StrangeDays said:
    How sad is it that other entire nations are adopting a well-made, ready-to-use implementation of exactly what is needed, and most of our US states aren't. They'll all on their own, competing for supplies and making the same duplicated evaluations & efforts on tools like this. What a colossal failure our lack of federal response has been. A waste of so much money and life.
    No banana republics can get their shit together. 
    watto_cobramuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 3 of 8
    ro_ro_ur_boatro_ro_ur_boat Posts: 51member
    StrangeDays said:
    How sad is it that other entire nations are adopting a well-made, ready-to-use implementation of exactly what is needed, and most of our US states aren't. They'll all on their own, competing for supplies and making the same duplicated evaluations & efforts on tools like this. What a colossal failure our lack of federal response has been. A waste of so much money and life.
    It’s all about money. If the Feds create one, only one company makes money. If each states create app for themselves, there are al it more software company making money. 
    watto_cobramuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 4 of 8
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    How sad is it that other entire nations are adopting a well-made, ready-to-use implementation of exactly what is needed, and most of our US states aren't. They'll all on their own, competing for supplies and making the same duplicated evaluations & efforts on tools like this. What a colossal failure our lack of federal response has been. A waste of so much money and life.
    It’s all about money. If the Feds create one, only one company makes money. If each states create app for themselves, there are al it more software company making money. 

    It's more about individual states having their own laws and regulations, especially when it comes to health. I am just surprised that Apple and Google didn't create a generic app that others could just slightly modify for localization and use it instead of creating one from the ground up?
    edited September 2020 watto_cobracaladanian
  • Reply 5 of 8
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,096member
    The people of Norway should demand that money spent on that half-baked app be returned.  It's shameful the politicians let their egos get in the way.
    qwerty52
  • Reply 6 of 8
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,213member
    mjtomlin said:
    How sad is it that other entire nations are adopting a well-made, ready-to-use implementation of exactly what is needed, and most of our US states aren't. They'll all on their own, competing for supplies and making the same duplicated evaluations & efforts on tools like this. What a colossal failure our lack of federal response has been. A waste of so much money and life.
    It’s all about money. If the Feds create one, only one company makes money. If each states create app for themselves, there are al it more software company making money. 

    It's more about individual states having their own laws and regulations, especially when it comes to health. I am just surprised that Apple and Google didn't create a generic app that others could just slightly modify for localization and use it instead of creating one from the ground up?
    I think they should have, but I'll make a guess that both companies expected a heavy dose of FUD to be distributed about the two of them stealing user data (outright fibs combined with ignorance) and didn't wish to be the initial provider of both the API and the app for that reason. 

    Oh and BTW II can't agree with DED's opinion on how he thinks this Apple/GoogleAPI was developed, which claims Apple is fibbing a bit about its roots and further claim Google doesn't care anyway. No reason for Apple to lie or mislead on a public safety initiative (casting doubt on future PR statements), and there's ample evidence too that Google has seen the light, bringing a new commitment to safeguarding personal privacy. They are much more in tune with Apple over the past several months and I believe this partnership is an honest one. 
    edited September 2020 muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 7 of 8
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    mjtomlin said:
    How sad is it that other entire nations are adopting a well-made, ready-to-use implementation of exactly what is needed, and most of our US states aren't. They'll all on their own, competing for supplies and making the same duplicated evaluations & efforts on tools like this. What a colossal failure our lack of federal response has been. A waste of so much money and life.
    It’s all about money. If the Feds create one, only one company makes money. If each states create app for themselves, there are al it more software company making money. 

    It's more about individual states having their own laws and regulations, especially when it comes to health. I am just surprised that Apple and Google didn't create a generic app that others could just slightly modify for localization and use it instead of creating one from the ground up?

    Mmm.

    I'm not sure that they could build an app generic enough to fit every country's IT infrastructure. Which database would it support? How would it plug into their messaging systems. I think they took the best approach: just give them a standard API for interrogating a secure token system built into the operating system.
  • Reply 8 of 8
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member

    StrangeDays said:
    How sad is it that other entire nations are adopting a well-made, ready-to-use implementation of exactly what is needed, and most of our US states aren't. They'll all on their own, competing for supplies and making the same duplicated evaluations & efforts on tools like this. What a colossal failure our lack of federal response has been. A waste of so much money and life.

    It's just as bad over here.

    The UK government ignored the advice of just about every IT specialist available and built their own system that drained phones like no one's business.

    Then, after months of delay, they released an app based around the Apple/Google framework – but it will only accept test results from a private company which is no doubt run by one of their rich friends. It does not accept test results from tests administered by the National Health Service.

    This country is being run like a 'Yes Minister' series, except no one's laughing.

    caladanianmuthuk_vanalingam
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