SlowCOVIDNC, the official COVID-19 Exposure Information app for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is called “NCDHHS” The app allows users to see if they have been in close proximity with anyone who has received a positive COVID-19 result. To slow down the spread of COVID-19, users can anonymously share positive COVID-19 test results.
This app was created by NCDHHS to help North Carolinians protect their communities and slow down the spread of the virus.
WHAT IS SLOWCOVIDNC?
Step 1: Download SlowCOVIDNC Exposure Notification App. Turn on Bluetooth and Exposure notifications.
Step 2: Once you have signed up to receive notifications, the app generates an anonymous token for you device. A token is a combination of random numbers and letters that can be used to identify a phone for a brief period. This protects your privacy as well as security. These tokens are updated every 10-20 seconds and are not linked to your location or identity.
Step 3: With Bluetooth, your smartphone and all other SlowCOVIDNC apps are communicating with each other over Bluetooth. This allows you to exchange anonymous tokens between your phone and your nearby phones. Devices can also remember how far apart they have been for. To estimate their distance, phones can also track the Bluetooth signal strength of their calls.
Step 4: SlowCOVIDNC periodically retrieves tokens from its server from users who have tested positive. The phone records the signal strength and duration of your exposures to those tokens and then calculates the risk and notifies you if you have reached a notification threshold.
Step 5: If your COVID-19 test is positive, you can obtain your PIN from the local public health department. Then you can upload it into the app. This anonymous and voluntary reporting alerts others who downloaded the app or have been in close contact with your family in the past 14 days about the possibility of being at risk.
HOW SLOWCOVIDNC PROTECTS PRIVACY
SlowCOVIDNC can be enabled or disabled at any time. Your privacy will be protected when you use SlowCOVIDNC. Tokens can collect and share data such as time, signal strength, duration, and date. It will never collect or store any location data or personal identifiable data.
To help slow down the spread of COVID-19, enable Bluetooth and Exposure Notifications. If you are in close contact and have shared a positive COVID-19 result, you may be notified.
Find out more about privacy and our policy on the NCDHHS site.
Thank you for downloading SlowCOVIDNC. We can all work together to slow down the spread of COVID-19
