England and Wales' Contact-Tracing App With Apple and Google API to Launch September 24

[MacRumors]

An NHS COVID-19 contact-tracing app using the Apple and Google API is finally set to launch in England and Wales on September 24, the UK government has announced today (via BBC News).

The app performs distance-based contact-tracing like similar apps released in other countries. It will also allow users to scan QR codes to register visits to hospitality venues to aid contact-tracing.

UK businesses are being asked to display QR code posters to advertise the app. The Department of Health and Social Care also said that an alternate system, such as a handwritten register, must also be maintained for visitors who do not have smartphones.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock described the launch as "a defining moment and will aid our ability to contain the virus at a critical time."

The first version of the NHS contact-tracing app, intended for all regions of the UK, was trialed on the Isle of Wight in May. The app used a centralized tracing solution rather than the Apple and Google API, and was later scrapped entirely.

The new contact-tracing app for England and Wales will use the Apple and Google API for detecting other nearby smartphones. Scotland has already launched its contract-tracing app using the Apple and Google API.

The API is built into iOS 13.5 and later, and allows iPhones and Android smartphones to interface with one another for contact-tracing purposes. If and when you happen to be nearby someone who later tests positive for COVID-19, you can receive a notification and take the appropriate steps to self isolate and seek medical help if necessary.

Apple recently rolled out a new Express Exposure Notifications System that does not require an app to be downloaded for the feature to be turned on. After updating to iOS 13.7, a new ‌Exposure Notification‌ section appears in the Settings app where there's a toggle to "Turn on Exposure Notifications."

Activating Exposure Notifications lets you know if the feature is available in your country, state, or region through a contact tracing app. In areas that are participating in the Exposure Notifications Express program, users can turn on Exposure Notifications without the need to download an app.

Apple and Google have stressed the privacy of their Bluetooth-based solution, which must be enabled in the Settings app under Privacy > Health > COVID-19 Exposure Logging to function. Read our Exposure Notification guide for more details.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: England and Wales' Contact-Tracing App With Apple and Google API to Launch September 24

 

[SaxPlayer]

They finally gave in and realised they'd have to go with everyone else and use the Apple/Google system. It makes sense to do it. Only time will tell how good Bluetooth really is at this, however I'd trust Apple and Google to get the software right much more than I would NHSx.

 

[GadgetBen]

I'm pleased we got there, but the whole journey has been a farce.

It's sadly an example of how some powerful individuals in government are so out of touch with technology. In some ways this is so much more reliable than human contact tracing.

I hope people will use it, I've seen some of the early reviews for the localised rollout and you've just got loads of 'Karen's' giving one star reviews saying how it's not working on their iPhone 5 ?‍♂️

 

[Stiss]

We should have had this months ago. But the Government was stupid and stubborn.

 

[Expos of 1969]

Matt Hancock......good lord. Not qualified to organise the first aid kits at a daycare facility, let alone be Health Secretary.

 

[m11rphy]

I just wonder how long until apple and google get sued for have a monopoly in the COVID-19 contact-tracing app space lol

 

[threesixty360]

I can just imagine some ego driven dev said in a meeting that they could make blue tooth more accurate than Apple / google could...

And then some PM ran with it without challenging the dev because their are tons of PM’s that know zero about code.. and then that became a thing which the director ran with cos he trusts his team or whatever...

and ego drove the ship until it hit the rocks in an actual demo...

and I bet no one had actually seen the dev’s actual evidence that what he said could be done could actually be done. Yet they all went telling everyone they could. And more importantly no one has stopped to think how both Apple and google with their huge engineering squads couldn’t do reliably what your guys say they can do.

ego driven programmers combined with sharp deadlines and management that don’t know enough to challenge is the death of many a project.

 

[jlocker]

Quote from a recent Wired Magazine article "Using data in this way avoids one of the biggest problems with contact tracing apps so far—that not many people are using them. If only one out of 10 people you encounter at the gym has the app, it won’t alert you if you were exposed to coronavirus by one of the other nine."

The Logic Around Contact Tracing Apps Is All Wrong

Rather than tracking individual exposures, we should be using them for real-time info on what activities and locations may be responsible for the spread.

www.wired.com

 

[McG2k1]

Just in time for no one to care about covid. Except Karen of course.

 

[darkcompass]

The govt have spent so much money on this app, tens of millions.

 

[IIGS User]

So long as the information sharing is voluntary, every little bit helps.

My workplace has moved to voluntary bi weekly testing (later this month) as I work in a high risk environment. I will obviously participate (oral swab, not the tickle the nose business). I kinda owe it to my co workers and the people I deal with every day to be sure I don’t have it...

 

[Saturnine]

I don’t want to get into an argument about the pros and cons of devolution and the independence of the nation states of the UK but it really is ridiculous that multiple apps are being developed and released to do exactly the same job.

Why there isn’t a single UK-wide app is beyond me. Basically the NHS systems in each of the nations have each paid for outsourced development and I fail to see the value in doing it that way.

 

[Morgenland]

We should have had this months ago. But the Government was stupid and stubborn.

Did you really expect something else? The next year Johnson will win his King and Brexit bet against his Eton/Oxford members, collects his winnings, resigns and then hopefully England will find peace and unity and political leadership again. And will not stage an 'evil Europe' or 'money-hungry Scotland' as a diversion.

 

[Morgenland]

I don’t want to get into an argument about the pros and cons of devolution and the independence of the nation states of the UK but it really is ridiculously that multiple apps are being developed and released to do exactly the same job.

Why there isn’t a single UK-wide app is beyond me. Basically the NHS systems in each of the nations have each paid for outsourced development and I fail to see the value in doing it that way.

The "united" Kingdom is falling apart. It is as simple as that. After all, that 'king' was not elected by the people. Sad story.

 

[darkcompass]

I don’t want to get into an argument about the pros and cons of devolution and the independence of the nation states of the UK but it really is ridiculous that multiple apps are being developed and released to do exactly the same job.

Why there isn’t a single UK-wide app is beyond me. Basically the NHS systems in each of the nations have each paid for outsourced development and I fail to see the value in doing it that way.

The NHS has been broken up in each nation for the devolved government to manage nation-al resources. and the systems are actually separate too, I lived in London for 10 years, and they didnt have the 20+ years of records from Wales.

 

[Expos of 1969]

The "united" Kingdom is falling apart. It is as simple as that. After all, that 'king' was not elected by the people. Sad story.

View attachment 952005

Is that Mrs. Johnson or some Eton matron? In any case, pity she did not give Boris some worldly advice about latex products. He never seems to know how many children he has.

 

[itsmilo]

Here in Germany it seemed to have had a good start with over 12 Mio Downloads a few months ago but roughly 50% have said they will not download it over privacy concerns and last time I checked only about 1,000 positive results where actually shared / uploaded. With over 1,500 cases per day, that’s pretty sad results to say the least.

 

[Veinticinco]

Closing the stable door after the horse has not only bolted, it‘s had a successful racing and stud career and has already made it to the glue factory.

Shameful ineptitude and Hancock and whoever else at NHSx had a hand in this farce, ought to be fired.

 

[SaxPlayer]

Here in Germany it seemed to have a good start with over 12 Mio Downloads a few months ago but roughly 50% have said they will not download it over privacy concerns and last time I checked only about 1,000 positive results where actually shared / uploaded. With over 1,500 cases per day, that’s pretty sad results to say the least.

Does the German app use the Apple/Google API? If it does then it's surprising that people are concerned about privacy because that's the main selling point of using the API?

Then again, perhaps people in Germany are more concerned about their privacy than people in the UK? If that's the case, I might consider moving there because the lack of concern about privacy here drives me nuts (just look at how many people have Amazon spying machines in their homes, use Google search and have Facebook accounts).

 

[and 1989 others]

If there is one thing I know about my fellow British man, is that they have suspicions about every government intervention. The uptake on this app will be so poor, it may as well not exist.

 

[itsmilo]

Does the German app use the Apple/Google API? If it does then it's surprising that people are concerned about privacy because that's the main selling point of using the API?

Then again, perhaps people in Germany are more concerned about their privacy than people in the UK? If that's the case, I might consider moving there because the lack of concern about privacy here drives me nuts (just look at how many people have Amazon spying machines in their homes, use Google search and have Facebook accounts).

yeah but people do not understand these kind of things also it certainly doesn’t help that the police already used the contact forms, which restaurants and bars have to collect here, for other purposes. That little trust that was there, already went out of the window with this

 

[LastLine]

If there is one thing I know about my fellow British man, is that they have suspicions about every government intervention. The uptake on this app will be so poor, it may as well not exist.

Sadly true.

But also about ****ing time it's out.

 

[sjdigital]

We’ve had a contact tracing app here in Northern Ireland (part of the U.K., remember?) since July.

 

[triton100]

Absolute. Bunch. Of. Baphoons. These people are actually in charge of our country. Sheez.

 

[Morgenland]

Does the German app use the Apple/Google API? If it does then it's surprising that people are concerned about privacy because that's the main selling point of using the API?

Then again, perhaps people in Germany are more concerned about their privacy than people in the UK? If that's the case, I might consider moving there because the lack of concern about privacy here drives me nuts (just look at how many people have Amazon spying machines in their homes, use Google search and have Facebook accounts).

It does.
I think people in Germany are a bit paranoid about 'Big Brother', that's also due to their history. In East Germany (GDR) there was a political police force similar to the NSA. Even then, letters were opened and telephones were tapped, just like Google and Skype etc. do today. The Angst is deeply rooted in the DNA of the Germans.