DTA to add Herald Bluetooth protocol to COVIDSafe app

Australia's COVIDSafe digital contact tracing app is getting a makeover by the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA), which is planning to incorporate the world's first use of the open source Herald protocol for Bluetooth communication and range finding into the app.

The protocol promises to improve the app's encounter detection capabilities, with testing demonstrating a near 100 per cent detection rate of close contacts in the foreground and background in iOS and Android devices, the DTA said.