Contact tracing app initiatives have emerged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a modern enhancement to traditional methods for tracking the spread of the virus, finding new infections, and supporting the reopening of the economy.
Several tech giants and public health authorities across the globe have quickly signed on to build the application programming interfaces (APIs) and apps necessary to support the scale of the project. In the US, some states have implemented their own versions, while Microsoft has partnered with the University of Washington on a new app designed to help public health agencies.