Google and Apple announce requirements for access to corona API

Apple and Google have announced which rules government institutions must comply with if they want to use the corona API. The companies have also released models of what the apps might look like.

Apps that use the corona API must come from a government agency, Apple and Google say in a conversation with journalists. The companies are talking about the API they are making together, which was announced last month. Google and Apple are building an API on which official health authorities can base their contact tracing apps. The companies only give one app per country access to the API. They do this ‘to prevent fragmentation and stimulate more use’. Google and Apple “are willing” to support countries that fight the virus by region.

The companies also have other requirements that app makers must adhere to. For example, users must first explicitly agree to receive notifications. They must also consent before sharing a positive test result and associated unique identifiers with government agencies. Apple and Google also say apps should collect “a minimum amount of data,” which, moreover, should only be used to fight the coronavirus. “All other uses of data, such as for targeted advertising, are not allowed,” the companies say. The apps should not be allowed to collect location data.

Google and Apple have also released examples of what the contact tracing apps will look like in practice. That is not the original task of the companies. They only build the API. “These updates are part of our efforts to help developers build these apps,” Apple and Google said in a statement. The examples consist of mock-ups of the user interface for the apps, as well as code for both iOS and Android.