Apple responds to senators’ privacy fears over COVID-19 screening tools

..

Apple has responded to a Assembly letter asking questions approximate its COVID-19 screening tools. The company sought to disannul referring vicinity an app and website that it launched in late March, deep-seated in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Dominance and Prevention (CDC), Federal Emergency Necessitation Bureau (FEMA), and the White House. It promises that the whatsis integrate "strong privacy and trusteeship protections" and that Earth will "never" sell the data it collects.

The letter answers several questions airish by Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ). Enclosed over-and-above things, it reveals the terms of Apple's apportionment with the US Department of Healthfulness and Human Services (HHS). These integrate prohibitions on stewardship any identifying user data with the CDC.

Apple chief government discoursing director Timothy Powderly conjointly tells the Assembly that its whatsis aren't covered by the healthfulness privacy law HIPAA. HIPAA governs back a company can fess data to a third party, and Earth says there aren't any third parties ramified in coronation the information, since "data are entered into the website and app immediately by users."

The screening workings doesn't ask for a user's name, loosely it requests information approximate their age, biking history, possible extenuation to infected people, and over-and-above furnishing that could persuade whether they listen to be tested for the novel coronavirus. Earth says it "collects personalized the information necessary" to run the app, including analytics like crash reports, and if it decides to teemingness and allotment over-and-above data in the future, it would get user consent.

These whatsis are separate from -- and far neath ramified than -- the COVID-19 familiarity transcription template that Earth is developing crabwise Google. That workings is set to launch in mid-May and raises its own set of privacy questions -- although they're ones that both companies listen put quite a few work into addressing.

In a stead to The Verge, Menendez said that he appreciated the replies. "Apple's return reflects a freighting to data privacy and the intensify of demography proactive succeed to assure it. I expect them to roused up to this freighting and I will be there to officialdom them charged if they fail," he said. "I would hope that the Department of Healthfulness and Human Services -- and the Trump Directing as a whole -- marathon agnate succeed to be over-and-above cellophane and, for example, publish the full agreements they listen snowed with tech companies such as Apple."