Filipino CTO builds app for COVID-19 contact tracing in Cebu

A Filipino CTO has developed an app for contact tracing of COVID-19.

Eddie Ybañez of Payruler, a human resources management and payroll platform, designed , which, upon activation via mobile data, generates a unique QR code per user and traces their timeline, movements, locations, and even other users of WeTrace that they were with. Should a user be confirmed to be infected with COVID-19, WeTrace notifies other users who were in contact with them so that they can seek immediate care.

All of this is done without having to share any personal information. “The app does not ask for any personal or private data; no names, no photos nor any personal details of the user,” Ybañez said in a Manila Bulletin report. “What is visible is the individual’s unique ID number… to protect his or her identity as provided for under the privacy protection law.”

The WeTrace team is currently working with the Department of Health, the Philippine National Police, and concerned government agencies in their native Cebu on how they can firmly integrate the app in anti-COVID 19 outbreak measures.

The app is also currently pending approval on Google and Apple’s respective app stores.