The more people in a region that have downloaded the area's contract tracing app, the more effective it's going to be at identifying people who may have been infected.
The fact that the apps work best when a lot of people use them have raised fears that governments could force citizens to use them. But representatives from both companies insist they won't allow the technology to become mandatory.Starting in May, Google and Apple are planning to update their phone operating systems with new APIs -- application programming interfaces -- that apps can use to track a phone's location using its Bluetooth signal.
The two companies have drawn a line in the sand in one area: Governments will not be able to require its citizens to use contact-tracing software built with these APIs — users will have to opt-in to the system, senior representatives said on Monday.
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