MATT Hancock has urged smart phone users to download the coronavirus contact tracing app as soon as it becomes available.
But there are concerns over data sharing, with both the Scottish and Welsh governments unsure on how the app will work with the devolved health systems.
Speaking at the daily Covid-19 press briefing, the UK Government Health Secretary said the technology would be trialled in the Isle of Wight this week, and, if successful, soon rolled out to the rest of the UK.
It’s been developed by NHSX, the health service’s tech innovation arm, and use bluetooth to detect nearby phones.
If your phone has been in your pocket while you’ve stood beside someone else with the app, it will know how long you were near each other, and how close you were.
And if that person then gets diagnosed with coronavirus, and you were a bit too close to them for a bit too long, your phone will ping you a warning.
Anyone who believes they may have caught Covid-19 can also use it to run through a short checklist and allow them to book a test.
They will also be invited to upload a list of their contacts to the NHS system which could allow the health service to get in touch with them directly.
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer for England, said it was crucial large numbers of the population download the app.
“We do have some uncertainties about how many people will download the app, and it will be important that a significant proportion of the population downloads the app for it to have the greatest chance of giving us additional oomph in the contact tracing space, which in turn will give us additional room for manoeuvre in terms of other social distancing easements that we can consider in the weeks and months to come,” he said.
Setting out the new test, track and trace programme, Hancock said it would “hunt down and isolate the virus so it is unable to reproduce”.
“Crucially, test, track and trace allows us to take a more targeted approach to lockdown while still safely containing the disease,” he said.
“Creating this system is a huge national undertaking of unprecedented scale and complexity.”
It would involve an “army” of around 18,000 human contact tracers, he said.
Speaking at the Welsh Government’s daily briefing, First Minister Mark Drakeford said there were data sharing issues with the app, but that he hoped they’d be ironed out after the pilot.
“There are issues to be worked through, and that’s why the Isle of Wight is being used as an experiment, particularly issues to do with data, personal data, how that data can be shared into the different health systems of the United Kingdom,” he said.
“If we can solve those issues and if we think that they’re solved in a way that people will be willing to share their data and feel secure in doing that, then I see advantages of being part of a wider app but we’re not quite there yet because those discussions over those issues continue during this experimental period.”
In their paper on contact tracing, the Scottish Government revealed that they were working on their own app but would like to be involved with the NHSX programme.
“This is a UK Government led project – which we understand will be trialled soon – and we are seeking to ensure greater involvement for the Scottish Government in its development.
“In particular, we need to understand how data from this app will interface with the Scottish approach to contact tracing.”
Dr Orla Lynskey, associated professor of law at the London School of Economics, told MPs she had privacy concerns.
“Location data is inherently, incredibly sensitive – it says where you were at a certain point in time: were you at the doctor, were you at the counsellor, were you at the sexual health clinic? There is an inherent risk that if you create a system that can be added to incrementally, you could do so in a way that is very privacy invasive.”
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