US Senators Question Tim Cook Over Apple's COVID-19 Screening App

On Friday, four US senators sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook. The letter contains some questions inquiring about the COVID-19 screening app of the Cupertino tech giant. The senators also asked how the new app handles the personal data of its users.

A recent report from Bloomberg reveals that the letter sent to Cook was signed by Democratic Senators Kamala Harris, Richard Blumenthal, Cory Booker, and Robert Menendez. The letter also asks how the new COVID-19 screening app handles the personal information and whether it meets the requirements being asked by the Healthcare Data Regulation HIPAA.

Apart from those, the letter also requests for specific terms of “any agreement between your company and the federal government and/or state governments.” In the letter, the senators acknowledge the Cupertino tech giant’s claim that the software does not involve signing in using the Apple, and “users’ individual responses will not be sent to Apple or any government organization.”

Earlier, Apple shared some details about the COVID-19 screening app on its official website. It also addressed some of the privacy issues. “Apple is not collecting your answers from the screening tool,” the company says. “To help improve the site, Apple collects some information about how you use it. The information collected will not personally identify you,” the site says.

Just last month, the Cupertino tech juggernaut, in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control, released the COVID-19 screening app. Aside from the CDC, the initiative is in collaboration with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the COVID-19 task force assigned by the White House. The new screening app from Apple comes with a tool for COVID-19 symptoms along with updated information from reputable sources about the COVID-19 pandemic.

“While we acknowledge Apple’s statements regarding user privacy and that the questionnaire tools ‘do not require a sign-in or association with a user’s Apple ID, and users’ individual responses will not be sent to Apple or any government organization,′ we are nonetheless concerned for the safety and security of Americans’ private health data,” the US Senators say.