Friday, 29 March 2024

Singapore’s coronavirus contact tracing app will soon be open-source

The code for Singapore’s recently launched contact tracing app TraceTogether will soon be open-source and available for other countries to use. The island nation launched the said app nearly a week ago on 20 March. Since then, it has been installed by over 620,000 people.

“We believe that making our code available to the world will enhance trust and collaboration in dealing with a global threat that does not respect boundaries, political systems or economies,” said Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, who serves as the minister-in-charge for the Smart Nation Initiative.

The app was a joint development between the Ministry of Health and the Government Technology Agency. Balakrishnan noted that the responsible offices are now working round the clock to finalise the code and other protocol reference documents.

TraceTogether runs a protocol called BlueTrace, which harnesses mobile phones’ existing Bluetooth technology to track persons a user has come in close contact with, complete with timestamps. If a user is confirmed to be positive for COVID-19, the user may authorise the Ministry of Health to tap the app’s data and identify the person’s close contacts.

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