Did a Covid-19 Tracker Really Get Installed On Your Phone?

Time for some more Facebook myth busting.

The worst phrase I see on Facebook: "Copied from a friend."

There's been a flurry of posts on social media lately, saying that a recent interruption in cell service enabled cell phone companies to drop a Covid-19 tracker into everyone's phone.

FYI: Do you know that a " COVID-19 " sensor has been inserted secretly into every phone. Apparently when every one was having a phone disruption earlier this week, they were adding COVID -19 tracker to our phones.

Is it true?

Wait! Before I answer it.... I looked at my phone. Here's what I found:

OMG! It's there! Does that mean they're following and tracking and tracing me?

Well, no. It's OFF. In order for it to work, I would have to turn it ON.

It's probably on your phone, too. Again, it's probably off, unless you turned it on.

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So it is true?

Well, yes, a tiny bit, but mostly no. Here's what our friends at Snopes have to say about it:

What's True
In May 2020, Apple and Google launched a COVID-19 exposure notifications technology, which allows users to choose whether they want to use COVID-19 tracing apps on their phones. On June 15, 2020, many T-Mobile customers experienced network outages.

What's False
However, the phone outage (which was mostly limited to one network) and the availability of COVID-19 tracking technology occurred at different times. Furthermore, Google and Apple's exposure notification technology is not functional without the user's consent.