MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Can you imagine if your phone could tell you if you may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19? Two tech giants are working together on that right now.

Today, Google and Apple announced they have a tracking-tool that would allow health professionals to contact you if you've been near someone who has tested positive.

Google and Apple plan to harness the power of our phones by launching a tracing tool to alert people who have come in contact with COVID-19 patients.

"They'll use bluetooth to detect when phones are in close proximity to each other," said Cyber Security Expert Ryan Cloutier, with Security Studio.

Cloutier says the plan is for users to be anonymous and those who are alerted by medical professionals won't know who infected them or where.

When available, users will have to opt in to participate.

Apple and android users will need to download an app and leave their bluetooth on.

"One of the things that we've consistently heard from the doctor's is that contact tracing is a critical part of how we return to normality," Cloutier said.

But there are challenges ahead with privacy, widespread access to smartphones, and security.

The ACLU says it wants to ensure "any contact tracing app remains voluntary and decentralized, and (is) used only for public health purposes and only for the duration of this pandemic."

"Bluetooth is relatively easy to compromise," Cloutier said.

Cloutier says if your bluetooth is on, hackers nearby can code their way into your contacts, photos and other data.

But despite those concerns he says he would use it.

"I too am eager to get back to work so I would use it, but I would use it with a degree of caution," Cloutier said.

The companies plan to launch this next month, and you'll need to download an app. But in the coming months, Apple and Google plan to build the tech directly into their phones to eliminate the need for an app.