The NZ COVID Tracer app has been updated to include Bluetooth tracing technology. Bluetooth tracing allows you to receive an alert if you have been near another app user who tests positive for COVID-19.
Bluetooth tracing is not intended to replace our existing contact tracing processes or the NZ COVID Tracer QR codes. You still need to scan QR codes to keep track of where you’ve been. Bluetooth tracing is an added tool — it helps keep track of the people we’ve been near.
How it works
Once you have turned Bluetooth tracing on, it works by sending out a private and secure random ID code. It’s like your phone is giving digital high-fives to other phones you are near. The Bluetooth tracing function records how close the other phone was, and for how long. The phones you come into contact with will need to have Bluetooth tracing turned on as well.
This means that when someone tests positive for COVID-19, they can send an anonymous notification containing all the random IDs their phone has sent out over the past 14 days. If your phone recognises any of these IDs, and you had been close enough for long enough to be at risk of exposure, you’ll receive an alert. This alert will advise you on what to do to keep yourself and your whānau safe.
Watch our Bluetooth tracing video on this page to see how it works.
How to turn it on
Most phones will update the app automatically. You can also choose to update your app manually in your app store or play store.
Once you have the update, your app will ask you if you want to turn on Bluetooth tracing. Once you have turned this on, it will work even when your app is closed.
Bluetooth tracing will not use any mobile data, and it will not drain your battery because it uses Bluetooth Low Energy.
Your privacy is protected
When you enable Bluetooth tracing, your privacy is always protected — it cannot share your location, your name or anything else about you. Bluetooth tracing also does not record who you came into contact with, or where you were.
This means if you receive an alert because you came into contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19, no one but you knows you have received it. All the contact tracing information you collect with the app is held securely on your phone, and it’s always your choice what information you choose to share.
How to enable Bluetooth tracing, device minimum requirements and troubleshooting advice (external link)
