Coronavirus: New boss of Test and Trace app Gaby Appleton only contracted for 6 months

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavir...onths-12114798



Yet another private sector "shoe-in" on megabucks who will, inevitably, fail miserably to contribute to controlling the spread of COVID-19 .....

Success is impossible when a mere eleven percent of people are compliant.

That's because 89% of people don't trust BJ's Cosy Coterie - once The Dome escaped the PM's censure, followed by Gormless, Useless and then Incompetent, the way was open for everyone else to ignore the Coronavirus Rules .....

A major update to the NHS Covid-19 app should mean that it is better at identifying people who have been in contact with someone infected with the virus. It should also send out more alerts telling those people to go into isolation. But the way the app is designed using a privacy-focused toolkit provided by Apple and Google means it will be very difficult to know what effect it is having.

That's led some to suggest we've got the balance between privacy and effectiveness wrong. It is clear that the team behind the NHS app can get only limited data about its effectiveness. They will have details of how many positive tests have been registered and how many alerts have been sent to users telling them to self-isolate - but not their identity or where and by whom they may have been infected.

Ireland's contact-tracing app, which also uses the Apple Google toolkit, DOES ask users if they are willing to provide a phone number. More than 80% of users have agreed to supply their number, which is stored on their phone rather than centrally and only supplied once the exposure notification has been triggered. The app's developers say this means they have a better idea of just how effective it is proving.

So why has the England and Wales app gone down a path which appears to limit its usefulness?

Mr Tom Loosemore, who helped found the Government Digital Service, says there was a very effective privacy campaign in the late spring and early summer just as trust in the way the government was handling the pandemic was falling. "I think the truth is that those decisions were made because trust got lost very early," he says.

An update to England and Wales's NHS Covid-19 contact-tracing app is adding a way to apply for a £500 grant if it gives a self-isolation order.

Until now, those on low incomes were only offered the payment if they had been told to stay at home by human Test and Trace operators.

The move comes at a time when the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus is on the rise again. Experts have suggested following the app's guidance could help reverse that.

"People are not isolating because they can't afford to or because they don't realise that they have to - the whole system is not working," Paul Hunter, professor of health protection at the University of East Anglia, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "I think there is ample evidence that many people who should be isolating don't feel they can for whatever reason, and I think that has to be fixed if this is going to be effectively controlled until we've had adequate rollout of the vaccine."

England and Wales have both allowed people on low incomes, who cannot work from home, to apply for financial help if they have received a phone call, email, letter or text message telling them to self-isolate. Previously, that did not cover people who had received the app notification to isolate. This was in part because the app is designed to keep the identity of anyone receiving an alert private.

So, the challenge was to find a way to add the facility while still being able to prevent fraudulent claims. The solution involves a new financial support button that only appears on the app's home screen if the user has been told to self-isolate.

If tapped, the user is taken out of the app to a webpage that asks them to select if they live in England or Wales. After responding, they need to fill in an eligibility criteria check, and if accepted are then asked to supply their contact details.

Changes to the way we check in to venues on the NHS Test and Trace app have been made ahead of the reopening of hospitality from Monday.

The updates to the app have come into effect to coincide with the availability of rapid lateral flow tests for everyone in England from Friday.

The new regulations now state that everyone in a group must check in when they arrive at a pub or restaurant, either by scanning an NHS QR code poster on the app or by providing your contact details.

Last year it was only required that the lead member of the group checked in.

If a user has a positive coronavirus test result, they will be required to share their venue history privately on the app.

This will mean a venue will be alerted faster and local outbreaks will be able to be contained more easily.

If a person has been at a venue on the same day as someone who has since tested positive, they may receive an alert telling them to book a PCR test, whether they are showing symptoms or not.

Is the UK's NHS Covid-19 app too private?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54747154



The take-up for the NHS app has been phenomenal (20,000,000 downloads) - it's a pity that its' usefulness is limited .....