Nearform boss invites governments to work with firm on virus app
‘Team can get national contact tracing system launched in one month’
THE company responsible for building Ireland’s new Covid Tracker app says it is ready to work with other governments and regional authorities on similar tracing apps.
“We now have a solution for contact tracing for governments,” said Nearform CEO Cian O Maidin.
“The NearForm team can get a national contact tracing system launched in one month.”
Mr O’Maidin’s remarks came after HSE chief Paul Reid hailed the app as being “by far the most successful launch of this app anywhere in the world” after more than 800,000 downloads on Tuesday, its first day.
Mr Reid predicted it soon would reach one million downloads, outpacing any other contact tracing app launch on a per-capita basis.
However, after a surge in downloads brought it to 900,000 yesterday, the total of registered users then fell back toward the 800,000 level.
Confusion remains among Google Android smartphone owners about whether the app uses the device’s location.
According to the HSE and the app’s settings, Android users must switch the device’s overall location settings on for the app to work. However, this does not enable location tracking through the app, the authorities say.
Instead, it is a technical requirement for Bluetooth to work. Google’s vice president of engineering for Android told the Irish Independent that it is down to the way Android was built some years back.
“I understand that this is confusing from a user perspective,” said Dave Burke. “But it’s a legacy thing that was built in five or six years ago so that Bluetooth scanning would work. The irony is that, at the time, this was put in to preserve or even to increase privacy. But the actual exposure notification system does not use device location at all. It just uses Bluetooth scanning. There’s no way to track another person or a location.”
Apple and Google, which came together to create the new contact tracing app, have not charged Ireland or other European countries for the service.
Speaking at the app launch, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said countries are now dependent on the smartphone duopoly for services in a similar way to how Ireland relies on the ESB.
And Mr Reid confirmed that future health tech remedies based on the Apple-Google app design are under consideration.