CA Notify is the official COVID-19 exposure notification app of California, supported by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). The app was developed using the Google Apple Exposure Notification API through a collaboration between Google, Apple, California Department of Technology, CDPH and the University of California.
CA Notify can help slow the spread of COVID-19. It supports both local contact tracing efforts and the State’s COVID-19 prevention program. Using CA Notify is voluntary and free of charge. The more people who install and use it, the more effective it will be.
Once you install and activate CA Notify and turn on Bluetooth, the app works in the background and exchanges anonymous keys with other devices. (Keys are long random strings of characters that are not tied to any personal information.) Devices with the app installed will record the keys generated by other devices nearby. The app will record the signal strength, used to estimate the distance between devices, the duration and date of the exposure. To protect the users’ privacy, these keys are only kept on the user’s own device. After 14 days the keys are deleted.
If a CA Notify user tests positive for COVID-19, they will be able to obtain a verification code that allows them to activate the notification function in the app. Other app users will receive a notification of possible exposure if they were within six feet for a total of 15 minutes or more when the infected person may have been contagious. Anyone who receives a notification can then follow the guidance in the app to find out what to do next.
You must use the verification code to report a positive result via the app. This prevents people from falsely reporting positive results, which could generate false exposure notifications. CDPH wants all app users to feel confident that when they receive a COVID-19 exposure notification through the app, it is a verified message.
How CA Notify Protects Your Privacy:
CDPH takes your privacy and confidentiality very seriously. This is why we chose to use the Apple and Google Exposure Notification API. No personal data or location tracking occurs in this app. In fact, there is no need for CDPH to know where you are or who you are with for CA Notify to work. If you are close enough to another app user, the Bluetooth technology will share signals with that user. The CA Notify Privacy Policy is available at https://covid19.ca.gov/notify-privacy.
Laboratory results for all persons who test positive (cases) for COVID-19 are routinely sent to public health authorities in California to support disease control activities such as case investigation and contact tracing. This process is independent of the app. Local public health authorities use information from laboratory reports to follow up with cases to give them guidance and identify those they may have exposed.
Thank you for downloading CA Notify! California can stop the spread. You have the power to help your family, friends, and community.