Try the 'Corona Tracking Peace of Mind' App If You're Worried Your Route Might Overlap with a Confirmed Case

The 'Corona Tracking Peace of Mind' app, which compares routes of COVID-19 confirmed cases in the Gyeonggi region with users' routes to inform about risk levels, launched formally on the 23rd and is now available for download on Google Play Store.

Following the 'Memorandum of Understanding for Safe Data Utilization and Cooperation' signed between Gyeonggi Province and Seoul National University on the 21st of last month, the service provided through cooperation between the two institutions compares the publicly disclosed routes of confirmed cases with users' routes over the past two weeks to determine and inform about risk levels.

To provide the service, Gyeonggi Province provides confirmed case public route data within the province, and Seoul National University eliminates concerns about personal information exposure through homomorphic encryption technology (a next-generation mathematical technique that, unlike existing encryption methods, allows data combination, calculation, and analysis in an encrypted state).

Users who download the app can run automatic checks at set intervals on a regular basis or conduct checks as needed. An alarm will be triggered if the user's route overlaps with a confirmed case's public route for 10 minutes or more.

The Province advised users who receive risk messages to refrain from traveling and gatherings and visit a nearby screening clinic for consultation.

The app is currently available for installation only for Android users and can be installed by searching for 'contact risk' or 'tracking peace of mind' on Google Play Store.

The iOS version of the app is currently under review by Apple and is expected to be available for installation as early as March.

Seoul National University stated that it will update the app reflecting user requests received during the pilot service period and will expedite iOS app development so that more users can use it more conveniently by March.

The Province is currently in discussions with Seoul and Incheon cities to share and disclose the Capital Region's confirmed case public routes, and once all public routes are secured, it plans to share information between institutions to expand the range of quarantine support services for each institution, which is expected to benefit all Capital Region users.

Im Moon-young, Director of Future Growth Policy of Gyeonggi Province, said "It is a time when quarantine authorities are on high alert due to recent signs of COVID-19 resurgence and concerns about domestic transmission of variant viruses," and added "We hope the 'Corona Tracking Peace of Mind' service will encourage residents' voluntary social distancing and play a role in preventing the spread of COVID-19."

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province plans to be the first in the nation to build a database of in-depth epidemiological investigation reports of COVID-19 confirmed cases and systematically accumulate and manage information to enhance COVID-19 response and prevent spread, and to utilize it for future infectious disease research.

In addition, the Province plans to collect publicly disclosed routes of confirmed cases through the in-depth epidemiological investigation database system and support the collected public routes to be utilized as quarantine support services.