CA Notify is in beta at UC campuses. It goes statewide on Dec. 10. The governor announced it Monday.
"Once you activate CA Notify, it does all the work. All you do is keep your Bluetooth on. You will only receive alerts if you were in close contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19. Your privacy is protected as your identity is not known and your location is not tracked."
If you turn it on your phone now (Android app will be available on Dec 10), I suspect it will exchange IDs now. If someone shows up with COVID on Dec 10, you'd be notified if the two of you have it turned on now and are close by.
Since this requires your Bluetooth to be on, if you normally leave Bluetooth off you will have a little extra battery usage. I normally leave Bluetooth on all the time.
"When individuals voluntarily activate CA Notify, the tool uses Bluetooth technology to exchange random codes between phones without revealing the user’s identity or location. If a CA Notify user tests positive for COVID-19, they will receive a verification code to plug into the app, if they choose. Any other CA Notify users who have been within 6 feet for 15 minutes or more of the COVID-19 positive individual will get an anonymous notification of possible exposure. "
"The state launched a pilot in September for students, staff and faculty at UC San Diego and UC San Francisco and expanded to include five other UC campuses in mid-November. Given the privacy-first focus of CA Notify, we do not know how many students, faculty, staff and patients have enabled CA Notify, but UC estimates more than 250,000 people are utilizing this technology as part of the pilot. CA Notify has helped identify exposed individuals early, allowing them to quickly quarantine and reduce the transmission of the virus. The performance and privacy of CA Notify has been successfully evaluated through the pilot project and similar programs have been launched in other states."
All I want to say about the delay in adopting this is to blame it on "not invented here" syndrome. :-(
"Once you activate CA Notify, it does all the work. All you do is keep your Bluetooth on. You will only receive alerts if you were in close contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19. Your privacy is protected as your identity is not known and your location is not tracked."
If you turn it on your phone now (Android app will be available on Dec 10), I suspect it will exchange IDs now. If someone shows up with COVID on Dec 10, you'd be notified if the two of you have it turned on now and are close by.
Since this requires your Bluetooth to be on, if you normally leave Bluetooth off you will have a little extra battery usage. I normally leave Bluetooth on all the time.
"When individuals voluntarily activate CA Notify, the tool uses Bluetooth technology to exchange random codes between phones without revealing the user’s identity or location. If a CA Notify user tests positive for COVID-19, they will receive a verification code to plug into the app, if they choose. Any other CA Notify users who have been within 6 feet for 15 minutes or more of the COVID-19 positive individual will get an anonymous notification of possible exposure. "
"The state launched a pilot in September for students, staff and faculty at UC San Diego and UC San Francisco and expanded to include five other UC campuses in mid-November. Given the privacy-first focus of CA Notify, we do not know how many students, faculty, staff and patients have enabled CA Notify, but UC estimates more than 250,000 people are utilizing this technology as part of the pilot. CA Notify has helped identify exposed individuals early, allowing them to quickly quarantine and reduce the transmission of the virus. The performance and privacy of CA Notify has been successfully evaluated through the pilot project and similar programs have been launched in other states."
All I want to say about the delay in adopting this is to blame it on "not invented here" syndrome. :-(
