Slick
Guru
Apparently they are going to have a look at the app on ITV now.
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mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
And there are laws restricting use and combination of that data, with prison terms for the worst. Laws which don't cover this app.
At best, the private people who refuse this needlessly centralised tracker will get emotional blackmail and abuse for not "saving lives". At worst, they may be banned from some spaces and services as government and good-intention idiots tries to "encourage" usage to reach the 50-90% level needed for it to work. This is evil, bad and wrong, exploiting a pandemic to track residents.If people don’t want to download the app, then don’t, it won’t be compulsory
Slick
Guru
Well if they did I must have missed it.
But it wont that's the point they need 80% user rate no other county has come close.
An app won't get us out of this it won't replace boots on the ground. We been going contact tracing for year and still do day in day out with out an app but thanks to cuts from all colour governments it's been hollowed out that much that when something big comes along it's not able to cope. Hence the mad dash to find 18,000 more.
Slick
Guru
I did hear them say it took something like 11 years to get WhatsApp up to say 60% so what chance has the app got? I'll wait until it happens and decide then. 👍
All uphill
Still rolling along
- Location
- Somerset
Are ravens covids?
Julia9054
Guru
- Location
- Knaresborough
Corvids
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
Corvid 19s?
deptfordmarmoset
Full time tea drinker
- Location
- Armonmy Way
If 4 ravens are 6 ft, how long is corvid 19?
Inertia
I feel like I could... TAKE ON THE WORLD!!
Of course but I thought the more people are, on the system, the more effective it is. Telling peple they dont have to use it does us no good, we _want_ them to use it. There should be as few barriers to its use as we can possibly give.If people don’t want to download the app, then don’t, it won’t be compulsory
At what point do the benefits of this centalised system become outweighed by the loss of people who decide its not worth it?
Slick
Guru
I reckon when the virus knocks on their door they will maybe wish they downloaded it.
deptfordmarmoset
Full time tea drinker
- Location
- Armonmy Way
What I'll wish for is that the people responsible for it were capable of telling the truth.
Inertia
I feel like I could... TAKE ON THE WORLD!!
We may all wish they had downloaded it and it wont do us any good then either. and we may also wish we hadnt given them reason not to use it.
Slick
Guru
We will just go round in circles with this.
The government’s coronavirus contact tracing app has so far failed the tests needed to be included in the NHS app library, HSJ understands.
The app is being trialed on the Isle of Wight this week, ahead of a national rollout later this month. Senior NHS sources told HSJ it had thus far failed all of the tests required for inclusion in the app library, including cyber security, performance and clinical safety.
There are also concerns at high levels about how users’ privacy will be protected once they log that they have coronavirus symptoms, and become “traceable”, and how this information will be used.
Senior figures told HSJ that it had been hard to assess the app because the government was “going about it in a kind of a hamfisted way. They haven’t got clear versions, so it’s been impossible to get fixed code base from them for NHS Digital to test. They keep changing it all over the place”.
HSJ’s source described the app as “a bit wobbly”, but added that it was not a “big disaster” the app will not be included in the official NHS store at this stage, because it is at an early development stage. However, they also expressed concern about whether it will be able to pass in the near future.
The NHS Apps Library showcases dozens of approved apps which are assessed against a range of NHS standards. Products are assessed against national standards, regulation and industry best practice before they are approved for the library. Developers are asked questions on areas such as clinical safety, data protection and security, depending on the complexity of the technology.
Once the Isle of Wight trial is complete, the app will be referred back to NHS Digital, which runs the app store, for further assessment. During the government’s daily covid-19 briefing yesterday, Cabinet minister Michael Gove said it was hoped that more than half of the 80,000 households on the Isle of Wight would download the app.
The app will use Bluetooth technology to register a “contact” when people come within 6ft of each other for at least 15 minutes. If someone develops symptoms of coronavirus they inform the app and an alert will be sent to other people they have been in close contact with.
Concerns regarding the app’s privacy and information governance have been discussed nationally. Senior NHS sources have raised concerns that the app could risk public trust if privacy protection is overlooked, particularly when people using the app log themselves as having symptoms and therefore become traceable.
A senior NHS national source told HSJ: “The real problem is the government initially started saying it was a ‘privacy-preserving highly anonymous app’, but it quite clearly isn’t going to be… When you use the app and you’re not [covid-19] positive in the early stages, you’re just exchanging signals between two machines… But the second you say, ‘actually I’m positive’, that has to go back up to the government server, where it starts to track you versus other people.”
A spokesman for NHSX said the National Data Guardian’s panel had been consulted on the plans and the data collected by the app would only be used for NHS care, evaluation and research. An independent assurance board involving experts in mobile apps, data governance and clinical safety has also been set up to monitor the production of the app.
An NHS Digital spokesman said apps were not normally assessed for the app store during the earlier stages of testing and, although it has been asked to carry out early assessments already, that further reviews would take place after the piloting.
The app is being trialed on the Isle of Wight this week, ahead of a national rollout later this month. Senior NHS sources told HSJ it had thus far failed all of the tests required for inclusion in the app library, including cyber security, performance and clinical safety.
There are also concerns at high levels about how users’ privacy will be protected once they log that they have coronavirus symptoms, and become “traceable”, and how this information will be used.
Senior figures told HSJ that it had been hard to assess the app because the government was “going about it in a kind of a hamfisted way. They haven’t got clear versions, so it’s been impossible to get fixed code base from them for NHS Digital to test. They keep changing it all over the place”.
HSJ’s source described the app as “a bit wobbly”, but added that it was not a “big disaster” the app will not be included in the official NHS store at this stage, because it is at an early development stage. However, they also expressed concern about whether it will be able to pass in the near future.
The NHS Apps Library showcases dozens of approved apps which are assessed against a range of NHS standards. Products are assessed against national standards, regulation and industry best practice before they are approved for the library. Developers are asked questions on areas such as clinical safety, data protection and security, depending on the complexity of the technology.
Once the Isle of Wight trial is complete, the app will be referred back to NHS Digital, which runs the app store, for further assessment. During the government’s daily covid-19 briefing yesterday, Cabinet minister Michael Gove said it was hoped that more than half of the 80,000 households on the Isle of Wight would download the app.
The app will use Bluetooth technology to register a “contact” when people come within 6ft of each other for at least 15 minutes. If someone develops symptoms of coronavirus they inform the app and an alert will be sent to other people they have been in close contact with.
Concerns regarding the app’s privacy and information governance have been discussed nationally. Senior NHS sources have raised concerns that the app could risk public trust if privacy protection is overlooked, particularly when people using the app log themselves as having symptoms and therefore become traceable.
A senior NHS national source told HSJ: “The real problem is the government initially started saying it was a ‘privacy-preserving highly anonymous app’, but it quite clearly isn’t going to be… When you use the app and you’re not [covid-19] positive in the early stages, you’re just exchanging signals between two machines… But the second you say, ‘actually I’m positive’, that has to go back up to the government server, where it starts to track you versus other people.”
A spokesman for NHSX said the National Data Guardian’s panel had been consulted on the plans and the data collected by the app would only be used for NHS care, evaluation and research. An independent assurance board involving experts in mobile apps, data governance and clinical safety has also been set up to monitor the production of the app.
An NHS Digital spokesman said apps were not normally assessed for the app store during the earlier stages of testing and, although it has been asked to carry out early assessments already, that further reviews would take place after the piloting.
