Attorneys General Ask Apple and Google to Ensure All Contact Tracing Apps Serve a Public Health Purpose

Washington, D.C. — In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, NAAG sent a letter to the chief executive officers of Google and Apple asking them to ensure all contact tracing and exposure notification apps related to COVID-19 adequately protect consumers’ personal information. Specifically, the bipartisan coalition of 39 state and territory attorneys general asked Google and Apple to guarantee that such apps, when available to consumers, are affiliated with a public health authority and removed from Google Play and the App Store once no longer needed by public health authorities.

In the letter, the attorneys general acknowledge that, while digital contact tracing and exposure notification tools are valuable in understanding the spread of COVID-19 and assisting public health authorities, these same technologies pose a risk to consumers’ privacy.

The letter expressed concern regarding contact tracing and exposure notification apps available to consumers in Google Play and the App Store, particularly the “free” apps that utilize GPS tracking, offer in-app purchases, and are not affiliated with any public health authority or legitimate research institution.

To protect consumers without interfering with public health efforts to monitor and address the spread of COVID-19, the letters ask Google and Apple to:

1. Verify that every app labeled or marketed as related to contact tracing, COVID-19 contact tracing, or coronavirus contact tracing or exposure notification is affiliated with a municipal, county, state or federal public health authority, or a hospital or university in the U.S. that is working with such public health authorities;
2. Remove any app that cannot be verified as affiliated with one of the entities identified above; and
3. Pledge to remove all COVID-19 or coronavirus related exposure notification and contact tracing apps, including those that utilize the new exposure notification application program interfaces (APIs) developed by Google and Apple, from Google Play and the App Store once the COVID-19 national emergency ends. In addition, the attorneys general asked Google and Apple to provide written confirmation to their offices once the apps have been removed or an explanation why removal of a particular app or apps would impair the public health authorities affiliated with each app.

“Implementing these limited measures could help protect the personally identifiable information and sensitive health data of millions of consumers during this crisis,” the letter concludes.

# # #