SafePass: A Contact Tracing App for Los Angeles

I previously wrote about the Apple-Google partnership on a contact tracing infrastructure using bluetooth connections on smartphones, and I provided more detail about how exposure notification is designed to work.

Since then, many regions of the U.S. and around the world have developed their own contact tracing applications, some with the Apple-Google infrastructure, and some with other methods. There are debates about privacy, and some people prefer not to use contact tracing apps for fear that their data will be used for nefarious purposes. While I think there are legitimate privacy concerns, in my opinion the potential benefits of widespread adoption of smartphone-based contact tracing outweighs the risks. Furthermore, we as a nation have not been adapting well to the pandemic, whereas other countries have gotten the virus under control, using contact tracing as part of a multifaceted approach to mitigating both the health, social, and economic effects of the pandemic.

The City of Los Angeles recently announced a partnership with Citizen, the developer of a mobile app called SafePass that provides contact tracing capabilities for smartphone users throughout Los Angeles County. SafePass will allow users to self-report their COVID-19 symptoms and receive exposure notifications and alerts from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. This enables people to get tested following exposure notification and is an important tool that can be used to prevent further spread of COVID-19. Citizen asserts that contact tracing data collected by the app is anonymous, private, encrypted, and deleted after 30 days. If you receive an exposure notification, you will not know who exposed you—you will only know that you were in proximity to someone who later tested positive. Here’s a brief overview of its features:

According to this article, “An Apple rule concerning contact tracing apps forced the company to spin SafePass off into a standalone app. Android users need to download the Citizen app to access the features for now, but the company says a standalone SafePass app will be available in the Play store in the next month.”

I encourage everyone in Los Angeles (and other areas where it has been implemented) to download SafePass and report symptoms. It should only take a minute of your time each day, and it could save lives.