Privacy Policy

About NMDOH and NM Notify

New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) oversees public health efforts throughout the State of New Mexico and works to provide notification to people who have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. NM Notify is a service that allows NMDOH to anonymously notify you if you may have been exposed to other individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 and who are participating in the NM Notify program.

Protecting your privacy

NM Notify is a completely voluntary, exposure-notification app designed to help you protect yourself and others from COVID-19. NM Notify will never collect, track, or store your location, GPS information, or personal information. NM Notify uses the Exposure Notifications system from Google and Apple. This app is designed to make it as difficult as possible to link the information you share with NM Notify to you or your device.

Enabling Exposure Notifications

Enabling exposure notification in NM Notify is your choice. You can enable and disable such notifications at any time. NM Notify must be enabled for NM Notify to: exchange the random codes with other NM Notify users who you come into close contact with; for you to receive exposure notifications; or for you to notify other NM Notify users if you test positive for COVID-19 by sharing randomly generated codes you will receive from NMDOH when you have a positive COVID-19 laboratory report.

How it works

NMDOH, and authorized health authorities will never collect or process any personally identifiable information from NM Notify.

If an individual has installed or activated NM Notify on their device and leaves Bluetooth on, that device will make a Bluetooth connection with other devices within their proximity to exchange random device keys if the other users have installed NM Notify. These random device keys do not collect or process any location or personally identifiable information.

Individuals who have NM Notify installed on their device and have a confirmed case of COVID-19 will be contacted through a text message by NMDOH or an authorized health authority. The text message will include a randomly generated PIN. If a user tests positive for COVID-19, they may choose to notify other NM Notify users with whom they have had close contact by entering the PIN into NM Notify. Other devices with NM Notify installed or activated would then get a notification that they were exposed to a COVID-positive person. Providing notification to other NM Notify users with whom you have had close contact is completely voluntary and does not reveal your identity. For the purposed of NM Notify a close contact is an app user who has met NMDOH guidelines for proximity to and length of time exposed to another NM Notify user who has tested positive for COVID-19. To trigger a notification to other users, the user who tests positive for COVID-19 must enter their valid, 8-digit PIN or use a PIN via a link that is sent in a text message. This PIN is used to verify your positive diagnosis and prevent false reports. This PIN is not associated with your identity.

Once the PIN is entered, the NM Notify app will calculate exposure risk using the time, duration, and Bluetooth signal (proximity indicator) for potential close contacts. NM Notify will notify other NM Notify users who meet criteria for being a close contact as having a potential exposure risk. NM Notify’s notification will state that the user may have potentially been exposed to a COVID-19-infected individual and will provide instructions on how to quarantine and where to get tested. Such notifications will not include the potentially infected individual’s identity or the date, time, or location of the exposure.

All randomly generated device PINs provided by NMDOH or an authorized health authority will not include any location or identifying information. All PINs are anonymous and auto-generated. The Bluetooth identifiers, random device keys, and associated metadata are deleted from your device on a rolling, 14-day window.

Pausing or terminating participation

Participation in NM Notify may be terminated at any time by deleting or uninstalling NM Notify from your device or turning off Exposure Notifications for iOS users. Participants may also pause or deactivate NM Notify at their discretion. After NM Notify is deleted or uninstalled, your device will no longer generate or exchange random codes with other users’ mobile devices. Any random codes that were previously shared with other NM Notify users will be automatically deleted after 14 days from the date the code was generated.

Sharing information

The following event data may be processed and collected in NM Notify:

  • Number of app users who have Exposure Notification Services enabled – Tracks the daily size of the app-enabled contact tracing network.
  • Number of close contact notifications – Tracks the number of close contact notifications that are generated for users that fit the close contact case definition.
  • Number of app users who uploaded positive diagnosis keys for the purpose of triggering alerts.
  • Number of matched diagnosis keys per positive exposure notification – Measures the number of exposure events per positive exposure notification.

NMDOH uses the above aggregate event information to understand how NM Notify is being used. No identifying information is included in the data. These data may be shared with NMDOH, public health entities or authorized health authorities. Data will be used in an aggregate and anonymous form for statistical or scientific research purposes. This information will not include any personal or location information nor will it be used to identify any NM Notify user.

Opting out of push notifications

If you opt-in to receive push notifications within NM Notify, it may send push notifications or alerts to your mobile device from time to time. You may deactivate push notifications and alerts at any time by deleting or disabling NM Notify, changing your device settings, or changing the push notification settings within NM Notify.

Age requirements

NM Notify is not intended for use by children under the age of 13, and NMDOH does not knowingly allow a child under 13 to use the service. If you are between the ages of 13 and 17, you can only use NM Notify if your parent or legal guardian has reviewed and agreed to the Terms of Service on your behalf.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

NMDOH may update this Privacy Policy or their general Privacy Policies from time to time. If material changes are made to the Privacy Policy, NMDOH will notify you by posting the changes on NM Notify or by using the contact information you provide to NM Notify. The notification will indicate when such changes will become effective.

If you object to a new Privacy Policy, you may terminate participation in NM Notify by deleting or uninstalling NM Notify from your device.

Contacting us

If you have any feedback, questions, comments, or concerns relating to this Privacy Policy or NMDOH privacy practices, please contact us at DOH-NM-NOTIFY@state.nm.us

Or by mail at:

New Mexico Department of Public Health
Re: NM Notify
1190 S. St. Francis Dr.
Santa Fe, NM 87505

NMDOH

Learn more about New Mexico’s COVID-19 response and find additional resources at NMDOH.

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