Software will alert users to infections
tracing is going to have to become part of our daily lives.” Those without access to the app, can still report symptoms and order a test online or even over the phone.
The health service’s tech arm, called NHSX, has developed the app with Apple and Google.
A poll on the Isle of Wight last night found that 80% say they will download it. It is seen as an ideal self-contained community to test the app.
If at least 20% of the population download the
Does anyone else get to see my information?
Your identity is not shared with other users. If you are told you have been near a suspected case, you will not be told where or when. What about my data privacy? The only data collected centrally if you report your symptoms is a
NHS app it will be useful in monitoring the spread. If around 60% of Brits – around 40 million – sign up it could hold infection rates down as some social distancing measures lift.
But data from Statista for 2019 found that only 55% of over-55s owned a smartphone.
Matthew Gould, NHSX chief executive, said that is why a separate human contact tracing operation would be important.
NHSX insists app data would only be used by
randomised anonymous code to represent the phone. The unique codes automatically change over time so that the person using the phone cannot be identified.
Contact data is deleted from the phone every 28 days. You will only be required to enter the first half of your postcode (covering 8,00012,000
households), not your full address, so the NHS can be alerted about hotspots. What about my children? So far, only phone users over 16 or over will use the app on the Isle of Wight. NHSX has not yet decided yet what will happen nationally.
ON SCREEN Tracer app the health service and cannot be used by security services. But experts warned the existence of anonymised data kept centrally is a risk. The National Cyber Security Centre said “privacy-preserving gateways” had been built in so that all app data would be kept separate from other NHS data and to prevent individuals from being identified.
It comes as the Health Service Journal reported that the app had so far failed tests needed for it to gain approval to be included in the NHS app library. Meanwhile, campaigners have criticised the use of private firms to run parallel human contact tracing centres. Of the 18,000 contact tracers 3,000 will be retired doctors and nurses who are returning. The rest are likely to be staff from private firms. Cat Hobbs, director of NHS campaign group We Own It, said: “It is beyond belief that the Government has handed private companies contracts to run tracing centres.”