Using WI Exposure Notification is voluntary and free of charge. It was built with your privacy and security in mind. The more people who install and use the app, the more effectively it can be in helping us contain the virus.
Once you install and activate WI Exposure Notification and turn on Bluetooth, the app works in the background and exchanges anonymous signals with other devices. These signals, or keys, are long random strings of characters that are not tied to any personal information. Devices with the app installed will remember the keys generated by other devices nearby. The app will also record the signal strength, which is used to estimate the distance between two devices, as well as the duration and date of the exposure.
To protect users’ privacy, these keys are only kept on the user’s own device. After 14 days, the keys are deleted. If a WI Exposure Notification user tests positive for COVID-19, they will receive a verification code from the State of Wisconsin. Users must activate the verification code that is only available from the State of Wisconsin in order to report a positive result via the app. This prevents people from falsely reporting positive results, which could generate false exposure notifications.
WI DHS wants all app users to feel confident that, when a possible COVID-19 exposure is received via the app, that it is a real event to be trusted. When users choose to share a positive test result, this notifies other app users that were close enough to the infected person for a long enough period of time (approximately within 6 feet of someone for at least 15 minutes in a single day) that they are considered a close contact and at risk of infection.
Anyone who receives a notification should follow the guidance in the app for next steps. WI DHS 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 within this app. WI DHS does not need to know where or who you are for WI Exposure Notification to work. The Wisconsin COVID Notice Privacy Policy is available at https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/privacy.htm.
Please note that WI Exposure Notification is intended for users ages 13 and up. The app was developed using the Google Apple Exposure Notification API through a collaboration between Google, Apple, and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
