How to Turn Off COVID-19 Exposure Logging and Notifications on iPhone
Khamosh Pathak
Apple introduced its Exposure Notifications API in the iOS 13.5 iPhone update along with exposure logging and notifications explicitly developed to help with coronavirus contact tracing. Here’s how you can turn on or disable the COVID-19 Exposure Logging feature on your iPhone.
Google and Apple have joined forces to create a digital version of a contact tracing framework called Exposure Notifications. If you have a health tracking app installed, your iPhone will send out randomized Bluetooth beacons to devices around you. It will also collect the beacons from phones that you have been around for 10 minutes or more.
If someone is diagnosed with COVID-19, they can mark themselves as infected in the health tracking app. Every day, your iPhone will download a new anonymous database of those with verified cases and check it against the beacons stored on your device. If you crossed paths in the last 14 days, you’d get a notification saying that you might have been exposed to COVID-19, and the app will guide you through the next steps.
The Exposure Logging feature is not enabled by default, and to enable it, you need to install a supported health tracking app (from your local public health organization). That said, you can go in and disable the feature (and delete the exposure log) at any time.
To get started, open the “Settings” app on your iPhone and then select the “Privacy” option.
Here, tap the “Health” button.
Now, you’ll see the brand new “COVID-19 Exposure Logging” option at the top of the Health page.
Here, you’ll find the details of the health tracking apps that you have installed. If you have a health tracking app installed, you can tap the toggle next to “Explore Logging” to enable the feature.
Select the “Exposure Checks” option to see a record of all requests to check your Exposure Log in the last 14 days.
If you want, you can delete your Exposure Log by tapping the “Delete Exposure Log” button.
