Imagine we each had a stack of business cards, not with our names or phone numbers, but with a unique, unidentifiable code on them.

Each person you crossed paths with each day would give you one of their "code cards" and you'd give them one of yours.

You'd end up with huge stack to keep up with, with a card for each person that you were near at the grocery store, school, or sporting event that day.

You'd likely end up with so many cards that you'd have no idea who each card belonged to or where you got them.

You'd hold onto all of those cards for 14 days. After 14 days, you can throw the old cards out. Burn them, shred them, recycle them, whatever. You'll need to make room for the new cards.

Each night you'd check a special website with a list of codes on it.

People who had gotten a positive test result that day for COVID-19 would give the code on their card to the state health department. The list of codes would be updated and published to the site.

By looking at the list on the site, you could then check your stacks of cards and find out if you had a card with a matching code on it.

If you did have a matching card, you would know that you had possibly been exposed to the virus, and could start to respond accordingly to take care of ourselves and those close to you.

You might think to yourself "I'd love to know if I've been exposed, but that sounds like a lot of work! Handing out cards? Looking through each one!? Think of the trees!!!”

You're right. It is a lot of work. And a lot of paper. What if there was a solution that took care of all of the work for you, and it was even better at protecting your privacy than a stack of cards would?

It's an Exposure Notification app. It runs on your phone, silently, in the background, and alerts you if you've potentially been exposed to the virus. It also lets you help notify others if you've had a positive test result. #exposurenotification

Here is GuideSafe, Alabama's Exposure Notification App. Built by @MotionMobs and @UAB. It’s ready for download now:
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.adph.exposurenotifications
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/guidesafe/id1519514691