Mark Gurman:

Apple Inc. and Google addressed questions about their upcoming Covid-19 smartphone contact-tracing solution on Monday, providing details about a partnership that has raised concerns among some privacy and cybersecurity experts.

One specific concern that was making waves was that of a bad actor seeding false positives. For example, imagine someone putting a device out there that made contact with your iPhone, then reporting it had tested positive, marking you as having had contact with someone who was infected. Much room for malevolent mischief here.

The companies said the tool will require users to verify positive diagnoses before putting that information into the system. Test results will be checked by public health agencies that are building mobile apps that will work with the contact-tracing technology, Apple and Google added. They also defended the privacy of the system, reiterating that users’ names and locations would not be shared or stored.

So far, so good. If the tests are accurate, this should be a good solution.

Enter CNN, with this article, titled Prominent scientists have bad news for the White House about coronavirus antibody tests:

First, the US Food and Drug Administration relaxed its rules, and now companies can sell antibody tests without submitting validation data that shows they actually work.

The American Public Health Lab Association says that has resulted in “crappy” tests flooding the market.

And:

There has been concern that some of the tests might confuse the coronavirus causing the current pandemic with one of several coronaviruses that cause the common cold.

“Lots of tests confuse the two,” Relman said.

Whether these third party tests are used as part of the verification process for Apple/Google contact tracing or not, need this fixed ASAP.