Auburn campus encouraged to use Exposure Notification app

Published: September 17, 2020

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The Auburn campus community is encouraged to download and use the GuideSafe™ Exposure Notification app, which allows users to anonymously share a positive COVID-19 test result and be anonymously notified of possible previous close contact with someone who later reports a positive COVID-19 test result.

A how-to PDF is available for downloading and printing.
 
The app can be easily downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Upon downloading the app, the user should enable the Bluetooth function on their phone. At that point, any person using the app can report if they have tested positive for COVID-19—with that info being verified by the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Those using the app can simply keep it running in the background of their phone, and the app will notify if you have come in close contact with someone who tested positive and reports it in the app. The app will use minimal battery and data. If you report a positive test, those who may have been in close contact with you in the past 14 days will be made aware that they were near someone with a positive test, but they won’t know who or where. The app user’s identity and location remain completely anonymous, and personal information is never disclosed.
 
Use of the app is important as it can help stop the spread of COVID-19. The app works through an exchange of encrypted, anonymous codes via low-energy Bluetooth when you are within about six feet of others also using the app. The groundbreaking app was developed by the Alabama Department of Public Health, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, MotionMobs, Apple and Google. For more information, go to guidesafe.org.

Submitted by: Preston Sparks