The announcement that Apple and Google want to release a common interface to continue the fight against COVID-19 came as a bombshell. But how did this partnership actually come about? A new report provides deep insights.
The common goal of Apple and Google is clear – to break the COVID-19 infection chain and save lives. Contact tracing should be as precise as possible and therefore requires a common interface to ensure the interoperability of iOS and Android. The focus is on privacy and data protection. Now a CNBC report provides insights into the creation of the new and, above all, so important partnershipWhat is particularly interesting is how quickly the whole thing came about. According to CNBC, VMWare founder Edouard Bugnion contacted Apple's development team to talk about contact tracing. The focus was on balancing data protection and user-friendliness. The conversation quickly reached Myoung Cha, a senior executive in Apple's healthcare division. According to the report:
Within a day or two, these issues came to the attention of Apple's Myoung Cha, who oversees the business side of the company's growing healthcare team. Cha, a senior strategist for the company's healthcare division, then spoke with the company's COO, Jeff Williams.
Decentralization was planned from the beginning
The interesting thing is that Cha was apparently already working with a small team on a solution in this area at this time – Project "Bubble." Also participating were Apple's head of location services, Ron Huang, and Apple's vice president of privacy, Dr. Guy "Bud Tribble." How can a smartphone be used for contact tracing without governments compiling entire databases? This was the main question. According to CNBC, the small team hired a group of engineers who volunteered to participate in the project, including cryptography experts Yannick Sierra and Frederic Jacobs. The approach quickly became clear: decentralizationThe report states:
Apple employees also advocated decentralized approaches. The idea was that a phone belonging to a user who tested positive would send anonymous alerts directly to other phones that were nearby, rather than uploading all that information to a government or other central authority. This would prevent governments from building a database with detailed information about the phone's location or proximity.
The API is scheduled to be released on May 1st
In addition, each system should have an opt-in option so that users can decide for themselves whether or not to share information. Meanwhile, Google employees were working on a similar project codenamed "Apollo," as has now been revealed. When the project was presented to Android Vice President Dave Burke, he contacted Myoung Cha directly. The two quickly agreed—the system must be interoperable. This led to a video conference between Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, reports CNBC.
The two companies couldn't formally announce their plans to collaborate until they got the green light from their CEOs, so Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai held a virtual meeting a few days before the official announcement on April 10.
The story is remarkable because the partnership was formed within a very short period of time. The development of the common interface also went much faster than previously expected. According to CNBC, the first version of this API is expected to be released on May 1st. (Photo by mr. Smith / Bigstockphoto)
