On April 3rd Patently Apple posted a report titled "Democratic Senators are investigating Websites & Apps from Google & Apple who are assisting the White House's war on COVID-19." The report noted that senators were looking into Apple's new COVID-19 app and website regarding security and privacy. More specifically, the senators were also seeking information on Apple’s agreements with federal or state governments for the development of the app which made it a political hunt.

Today we're learning that in a letter sent to the Senators dated Friday, Apple said that the tools "were built to protect the privacy and security of users’ data." Apple further noted that they "drew upon its engineering and clinical resources to help develop a new COVID-19 website and COVID-19 app" at the request of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and outlined the privacy protections in its agreement with the agency. Apple said the tools, which are available as an app and on the web, aren’t subject to HIPAA guidelines and said it doesn’t collect any personal data from individuals.

For more on this, read the full Bloomberg report titled "Apple Responds to Senators Questioning Privacy of Covid-19 Tools" on their Technology homepage today.