SCOTLAND’S new coronavirus tracing app has been downloaded more than half a million times, the First Minister revealed this afternoon.

Speaking at the Scottish Government daily briefing, Nicola Sturgeon said the Protect Scotland software has been downloaded about 600,000 times since it was launched on Wednesday night.

Sturgeon thanked people for downloading the system, which alerts people if they have been in close contact with someone who later received a positive coronavirus test.

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She said it would be “particularly useful” for tracing people who have used public transport, and also “very valuable” to students going to university later this month.

The app works by using Bluetooth and operates in the background as you use your phone as normal.

The app exchanges anonymous, encrypted, random codes with other mobile phones with it installed. You do not need to have a WiFi connection and the app uses a very small amount of your mobile phone data.

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When the app finds another user, it will record the contact, the distance between your phones and the length of time your phone was near theirs. This is all done anonymously.

If you test positive for coronavirus, you can choose to input the Test Code, provided by the contact tracer. This will automatically notify other app users that you have been in close contact with (within 2 metres for at least 15 minutes).

When another user inputs their test code, the app notifies you and others it determines could be at risk.

Users’ information is kept private and their identity remains anonymous.

Download the app here.

Yesterday Matt Hancock refused to acknowledge the existence of the app when asked if he would welcome it in the Commons.

The UK’s own contact tracing app has been delayed by months after being plagued by issues and now has no official launch date.