# Apple, Google Ban Use of Location Tracking in Contact Tracing Apps **URL:** \ **Category:** News & Articles\ **Tags:** tools, freebies, operating-system, technology\ **Created:** [May 5, 2020, 2:38am UTC](https://onehack.st/t/apple-google-ban-use-of-location-tracking-in-contact-tracing-apps/84597 "2020-05-05T02:38:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Prometheus](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/prometheus/32/34950_2.png) [@Prometheus](https://onehack.st/u/Prometheus)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 2:38am UTC](https://onehack.st/t/apple-google-ban-use-of-location-tracking-in-contact-tracing-apps/84597/1 "2020-05-05T02:38:33Z")
![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/6/6/6630e1d4261246196a386d4e0769c3669be90e37.jpeg) Apple and Alphabet’s Google on Monday said they would ban the [use of location tracking in apps that use a new contact tracing system](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-apps-idUSKBN22G28W) the [two are building](https://apple.slashdot.org/story/20/04/10/174224/apple-and-google-are-launching-a-joint-covid-19-tracing-tool) to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. From a report: _Apple and Google, whose operating systems power 99% of smart phones, said last month they would work together to create a system for notifying people who have been near others who have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The companies plan to allow only public health authorities to use the technology. Both companies said privacy and preventing governments from using the system to compile data on citizens was a primary goal. The system uses Bluetooth signals from phones to detect encounters and does not use or store GPS location data. But the developers of official coronavirus-related apps in several U.S. states told Reuters last month it was vital they be allowed to use GPS location data in conjunction with the new contact tracing system to track how outbreaks move and identify hotspots._