Bluetooth update could turn wearable devices into COVID-19 trackers



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Billions of people have smartphones, but not everyone has them, and they’re not the only smart devices people have access to. Elderly people and young children have valid reasons for not owning them, which excludes them from the telephone contact tracing systems currently in place. This could reduce the overall effectiveness of preventing the spread of COVID-19, prompting the Bluetooth special interest group to act. GIS is the body that administers the wireless standard and seeks to expand the operation of its contact tracing application to include portable devices as well as phones.

He announced that he had started looking for a way to allow wearable devices to participate in exposure notification systems. The idea is to let smartwatches, fitness trackers, and even Bluetooth bracelets be part of the contact tracing network. This way, currently disconnected groups like children and people in care homes could be tracked without needing to buy them a new phone. For example, a child wearing a Fitbit might spend their day downloading data to their parents’ phone when they get home from school.

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