California-based startup company AppCensus has received $198,600 in funds from the Department of Homeland Security through the first phase of the Silicon Valley Innovation Program to build testing and validation tools for digital COVID-19 contract tracing applications.
AppCensus will develop an automated mobile app testing suite to ensure the security of digital contact tracing tools on smartphones, DHS said Monday.
The company will develop the suite through a platform designed to assess mobile apps' runtime behaviors, privacy and security risks. AppCensus will also deliver a free public microsite that will publish results from contact tracing apps.
"Once adapted and enhanced, the AppCensus platform will provide reports based on consistent tests using openly developed criteria of publicly available digital contact tracing applications to make it easy for people to understand potential privacy and security risks," said Anil John, SVIP technical director at DHS' science and technology directorate.