The companies said 22 countries and several U.S. states are already planning to build voluntary phone apps using their software.
Public health agencies from Germany to the states of Alabama and South Carolina have been waiting to use the Apple-Google model; while other governments have said the tech giants’ privacy restrictions will be a hindrance because public health workers will have no access to the data.
The companies said the new technology, the product of a rare partnership between the rival tech giants, solves some of the main technical challenges that governments have had in building Bluetooth-based apps.
“We invite other states to join us in leveraging smartphone technologies to strengthen existing contact tracing efforts, which are critical to getting communities and economies back up and running,” said North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a Republican.
Higher than other U.S. states with similar apps, but falling far short of the participation rate that experts say is needed to make such technology useful.
