New contact tracing app trial ‘to launch in England today’

A new coronavirus contact tracing app is to begin trials in England today, it is reported.

Plans for an app to support the NHS Test and Trace efforts have so far been marred by constant delays and privacy concerns.

Matt Hancock initially suggested a version would be available in mid-May, before ditching it weeks later over accuracy issues.

The Government has since moved on to technology designed by Apple and Google – already used in several countries across the world.

The latest trial, like the first, will be conducted on the Isle of Wight, as well as one other area in England and among a volunteer group, according to the BBC.

“We need the app to help stop transmission by tracing close-proximity contacts as quickly and as comprehensively as possible, capturing those contacts we don’t know or don’t remember meeting,” Professor Christophe Fraser, a scientific adviser to the Department of Health, told the broadcaster.

“The app should enable us to return to more normal daily activities with the reassurance that our contacts can be rapidly and anonymously notified if we get infected.”

Northern Ireland has already launched its Covid-19 contact tracing app, while Scotland is expected to have its own by autumn.

The Apple/Google approach works by carrying out the contact matching process on a user’s smartphone itself, making it more secure and harder for any potential hackers to access and de-anonymise any data for nefarious means.

Their system also bars authorities from using the technology to collect any location data from users.

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