【Landlady’s Loose Legs】

Who gave you the coronavirus,Landlady’s Loose Legs and how many people did you give it to?

As a pandemic sweeps the globe, charting the course of the coronavirus is vital public health work. On Friday, Google and Apple announced a combined effort to facilitate contact tracing — that is, the work of identifying who came in contact with an infected individual and was possibly exposed to the virus.

As one might expect, the tech giants are taking a tech-focused approach. Their plan is twofold, and involves the introduction of a cross-platform API and a "Bluetooth-based contact tracing platform."

"Google and Apple are announcing a joint effort to enable the use of Bluetooth technology to help governments and health agencies reduce the spread of the virus, with user privacy and security central to the design," reads the announcement.

Related Video: Why is the U.S. failing at coronavirus testing?

The rollout will take place over the next several months. The first step involves official apps that people can download via the App Store or Google Play store — depending on their mobile operating system.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

"First, in May, both companies will release APIs that enable interoperability between Android and iOS devices using apps from public health authorities," explains the release, which, notably, does not specify which apps or which public health authorities.

This, however, is only the first step.

Arm  in digital arm. Credit: apple / google

"Second, in the coming months, Apple and Google will work to enable a broader Bluetooth-based contact tracing platform by building this functionality into the underlying platforms," continues the release. "This is a more robust solution than an API and would allow more individuals to participate, if they choose to opt in, as well as enable interaction with a broader ecosystem of apps and government health authorities."

It's worth emphasizing six words in the above sentence: "if they choose to opt in." This is important, because it suggests neither Apple nor Google has the intention of sweeping all of their combined users up into a currently nebulous contract-tracing dragnet.

SEE ALSO: As coronavirus spreads, yet another company brags about tracking you

The pandemic, and the corresponding desire to track people's movement, has brought numerous location-tracking companies out of the woodwork. Apple and Google may be more familiar names than the likes of Unacast or Tectonix, but that doesn't necessarily make their data collection any less worthy of scrutiny.

As the two tech behemoths work together, let's hope we all remember that.

Topics Apple Cybersecurity Google Privacy COVID-19

• Games
• Digital Culture
• Life
• Social Good
• Science
• Entertainment
• Deals
• Tech

• Emboldened Fight for Health Care as a Right
• Steve Jobs would have given iOS 11 design an 'F' grade
• Man fiercely proud of his daughter's refusal to pay a $15 parking ticket
• The internet is convinced Kevin Durant is arguing with trolls on secret social media accounts
• The Destructive Character
• Apple Watch Series 3 review: The smartest smartwatch yet
• The sand hostel is here for all your sand
• 'DuckTales': 8 things you didn't know
• Reading like a Bureaucrat
• Twitter's crackdown on terrorism appears to be working

• George Plimpton Plays Ball
• All In: Oklahoma
• CNBC segment goes off the rails with barking dogs, man in underwear
• GTA is heading to Netflix? The streaming giant is reportedly in talks to license it
• People are accusing Instagram of shadowbanning content about Palestine
• Translating Adonis’s “Elegy for the Times”
• Thirty Malapropisms: The Answers
• Vivienne Westwood’s Son Will Burn $7.1 Million in Punk Memorabilia
• TikTok launches official Book Club after popularity of #BookTok
• Ralph Ellison and Gordon Parks’s Forgotten Photo Essay

• Waiting on Bitcoin
• Thank you Jimmy Kimmel for slamming the GOP's new health care bill
• Waymo and Intel announce partnership after collaborating for years
• 'The Powerpuff Girls' now have a big sister named Bliss
• The Permanent Vactioner
• Man fiercely proud of his daughter's refusal to pay a $15 parking ticket
• Microsoft is holding a 'mixed reality' event on Oct. 3
• Paying for antivirus software is mostly BS
• I Dream of Content-Trash
• Cameraman accidentally tackles cheerleader at football game

• Is Trump the New Clinton?
• Porsche's gorgeous electric car looks to knock off Tesla Model S
• Leaked pics show Google's new pricey Chromebook 'Pixelbook' and stylus
• Women in STEM get prime real estate on Grand Central's ceiling for an inspiring reason
• Fear of a Black Universe
• 13 hidden features in iOS 11
• Apple Watch Series 3 review: The smartest smartwatch yet
• Leaked pics show Google's new pricey Chromebook 'Pixelbook' and stylus
• Whitewash
• Hotel puts proper gaming rigs in all its rooms, perfect for gamer couples on vacation