Use Google Apple Contact Tracing App Najib Urges Govt

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Malaysia should use a system developed by Google and Apple that alerts users about Covid-19 close contacts, says former premier Najib Razak. (AP pic)PETALING JAYA: A Covid-19 notification system for contact tracing launched by Google and Apple could help the Malaysian government to keep tabs on active cases, former prime minister Najib Razak has suggested.
He said the number of close contacts of Covid-19 patients were currently too much for the health ministry to handle and new measures were needed to deal with active cases approaching the 50,000 mark.
He suggested using the Google-Apple Exposure Notification system available on smartphones, which uses Bluetooth to identify close contacts between users.
Najib said the system notifies close contacts of patients without revealing who had contracted Covid-19, while maintaining privacy about the user.
With most smartphone users already using the ministry’s MySejahtera app, Najib said the government could just improve on it by adding the “exposure notification” feature.
“There would be no need to create a separate app just for contact tracing. It’s faster, cheaper and proven (to be effective),” Najib said, urging the government to arrange for the system to be activated for use in Malaysia.
He said the contact detection feature was offered for free use in any country and was already being used in about 20 countries.
“Anyone who is confirmed to be Covid-19 positive will need to inform the system themselves. Close contacts of the patient will then be sent a notification that they are close contacts, without informing who was the one that tested positive.
“The records are kept without keeping the phone’s location and without naming the handphone owner or the phone number. In other words, this system doesn’t affect users’ privacy,” he said.
To allay fears of breach of privacy or misuse of people’s information, he said a third-party could be appointed to monitor the programme to ensure users’ privacy is always protected.
“The faster people are identified as close contacts, the lower the chances of them infecting others,” he said. - FMT

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