Through its Screening Tool, or COVID-19 Detection Tool, Apple has since the end of March offered information on care and prevention during the pandemic.
On March 27 of this year, Apple launched an app, Apple COVID-19, and enabled a microsite over COVID-19, (https://www.apple.com/covid19/) to visualize user-reported symptoms of this disease. These platforms were developed in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The tool includes a basic questionnaire about symptoms, age and risk factors. It then provides general advice on COVID-19, where to get a test, and measures for social estrangement.
However, in June both the app and the web platform were updated to show users the option to anonymously share data about their symptoms to health authorities such as CDC in the United States. That includes the user's age, their recorded symptoms and other data that Apple needs to improve the platform. However, the user's personal data is protected as it does not share personally identifiable data.
The exchange of this type of data helps scientists establish relationships between risky conditions, ages and types of symptoms that users could present, and what conditions make a person more likely to become infected and suffer complications from COVID-19.
This tool must not be confused with the Contact tracing tools system developed by Google and Apple to detect potential COVID-19 causes of contagion.
MOBIHEALTH NEWS
ENGADGET
https://www.engadget.com/apple-covid-19-screening-tool-symptom-sharing-133040159.html
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