Thread by @CDS_GC

COVID Alert, the free #COVID19 exposure notification app, is now available for people in Canada to start using!

Download it from either:

➡️ Apple App store: apps.apple.com/ca/app/id15202…
➡️ Google Play store: play.google.com/store/apps/det…

The app was built and will be improved in the open: github.com/cds-snc/covid-…

This includes bug fixes that countries also using the ExposureNotification framework have shared with us, and those we’ve shared with them.

Before the app got into your hands, the code underwent a security review by @BlackBerry and @cybercentre_ca.

The privacy of the app was also reviewed by the @PrivacyPrivee.

While it was being built, we also got feedback on the app from nearly 6,000 individuals across Canada from various backgrounds, including people with disabilities, Indigenous people, visible minorities, and recent immigrants.

So how does it all work?

1. The ExposureNotification framework was included in your smartphone’s OS update last month. It’s the engine that’ll power the app if you choose to download it.

If you don’t choose to, the framework can’t and won’t do anything.

2. After you install the app, you just need to make sure that your Bluetooth is turned on & your phone is with you if you go out.

The app runs in the background and will not interrupt your activities.

3. Whenever you’re near someone with the app, both phones exchange random codes every 5 minutes. The random codes change often and cannot be used to identify you.

4. Codes will continue to be exchanged as you go about your day-to-day life.

No action is needed unless you’re diagnosed with #COVID19.

5. If you test positive, your public health authority will provide you with a one-time key to put into the app. It will upload the random codes your phone sent over the last 2 weeks to the Canadian server.

(cont…)

…If you agree to upload your random codes, only the codes go. Nobody will get any information about you, the time, or location you were near them.

Every day the app will get a list of those random codes from people who have reported a diagnosis, via the server.

6. If there’s a match between codes associated with a diagnosis in the server and codes from people you’ve been in contact with, your app will notify you of exposure and help you find out what to do next.

You can learn more about COVID Alert here:
canada.ca/en/public-heal…