NHS COVID-19

NHS COVID-19 was a contact tracing app for monitoring the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, commissioned by NHSX and developed by the Pivotal division of American software company VMware, for use on Android and iOS smartphones. A pilot test programme started in the Isle of Wight with residents being able to install it from 6 May 2020, but on 18 June development of the app was abandoned in favour of a new design using the Apple/Google Exposure Notification system.

Not to be confused with NHS Test and Trace.
NHS COVID-19
Screenshot
Screenshot of app on iOS device
Original author(s)VMWare Pivotal Labs
Initial release6 May 2020 (2020-05-06)
Stable release
v1.0.2
Repository
PlatformAndroid, iOS
Size10.7 MB
Available inEnglish
TypeContact tracing app
LicenseFreeware
Websitecovid19.nhs.uk/ 

Description

In March 2020, NHSX commissioned a contact tracing app to monitor the spread in the United Kingdom of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the 2020 pandemic,[1] developed by the Pivotal division of American software company VMware.[2] The app used a centralised approach, in contrast to the Google / Apple contact tracing project. NHSX consulted ethicists and GCHQ's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) about the privacy aspects.[3][4]

The app recorded the make and model of the phone and asked the user for their postcode area. It generated a unique installation identification number and also a daily identification number. It then used Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to record the daily identification number of other users nearby.[5][6]

If a user is unwell, they could tell the app about symptoms which are characteristic of COVID-19, such as a fever and cough. These details were then passed to a central NHS server. This would assess the information and notify other users that have been in contact, giving them appropriate advice such as physical distancing. The NHS would also arrange for a swab test of the unwell user and the outcome would determine further notifications to contacts: if the test confirmed infection with COVID-19, the contacts would be asked to isolate.[5]

Context

The app was part of the UK's test and trace programme which is chaired by Dido Harding; since 12 May 2020 Tom Riordan, chief executive of Leeds City Council, has led the tracing effort.[7]

Key people

Within NHSX, the project was led by CEO Matthew Gould and Geraint Lewis.[8][4] Around 17 June, Gould and Lewis returned to their other duties, and Simon Thompson – chief product officer at online supermarket Ocado and a former Apple executive – was brought in to manage the project.[9]

First phase plans and cancellation

The first public trial of the app began on the Isle of Wight on 5 May 2020[3] and by 11 May it had been downloaded 55,000 times.[10]

When the first national contact tracing schemes were launched on 28 May – NHS Test and Trace in England, Test and Protect in Scotland – the app was not ready to be included.[11] Replying to a question at the government's daily briefing on 8 June, Hancock was unable to give a date for rollout of the app in England, saying it would be brought in "when it's right to do so".[12] On 17 June, Lord Bethell, junior minister for Innovation at the Department of Health and Social Care, said "we're seeking to get something going before the winter ... it isn't a priority for us at the moment".[13]

On 18 June, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced development would switch to the Apple/Google system after admitting that Apple's restrictions on usage of Bluetooth prevented the app from working effectively.[14] At the same press briefing Dido Harding, leader of the UK's test and trace programme, said "What we've done in really rigorously testing both our own Covid-19 app and the Google-Apple version is demonstrate that none of them are working sufficiently well enough to be actually reliable to determine whether any of us should self-isolate for two weeks [and] that's true across the world".[14]

Functionality

The functionality of the app was questioned in late April and early May 2020, as the software's use of Bluetooth required the app to be constantly running, meaning users could not use other apps or lock their device if the app was to function properly.[15] The developers of the app were said to have found a way of working around this restriction.[16]

Privacy concerns

The app was subject to privacy concerns, the government backtracking on initial statements that the data collected from the app would not be shared outside the NHS.[17] Matthew Gould, CEO of NHSX, the government department responsible for the app, said the data would be accessible to other organisations, but did not disclose which.[18] The data collected would not necessarily be anonymised[19][20] and would be held in a centralised repository.[21][22] Over 150 of the UK's security and privacy experts warned the app's data could be used by 'a bad actor (state, private sector, or hacker)' to spy on citizens.[19][23] Fears were discussed by the House of Commons' Human Rights Select Committee about plans for the app to record user location data.[24] Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights said the app should not be released without proper privacy protections.

Faculty – a company linked to Cambridge Analytica provided research and modelling to NHSX in support of the response to the pandemic. Palantir, also linked to Cambridge Analytica, provided their data management platform. These contracts began in February and March respectively.[25][26]

Second phase

As outlined on cancellation of the first app on 18 June, the Department of Health and Social Care published on 30 July a brief description of the "next phase" app. Users would be able to scan a QR code at venues they visit, and later be notified if they had visited a place which was the source of a number of infections; the app would also assist with identifying symptoms and ordering a test. By using the Exposure Notification system from Apple and Google, personal data would be decentralised.[27]

Testing of the app by NHS volunteer responders, and selected residents of the Isle of Wight and the London Borough of Newham, began around 13 August.[28]

See also

References
  1. "NHSX working on coronavirus contact tracking app". Digital Health. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  2. Manthorpe, Roland (31 March 2020). "Coronavirus: Govt set to release 'contact tracking' app which detects nearby virus carriers". Sky News. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  3. Kelion, Leo (4 May 2020). "App stores approve UK contact-tracing app for test". BBC News. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  4. Gould, Matthew; Lewis, Geraint (24 April 2020). "Digital contact tracing: protecting the NHS and saving lives". Technology in the NHS. Department of Health and Social Care. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  5. "NHS COVID-19: the new contact-tracing app from the NHS". National Cyber Security Centre. 4 May 2020.
  6. Rory Cellan-Jones (5 May 2020). "Coronavirus: Hands on with NHS Covid-19 contact-tracing app". BBC News.
  7. "Government expands expert team to rapidly roll out coronavirus test and trace programme". GOV.UK. Department of Health and Social Care. 12 May 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  8. "Timeline of the NHS Test and Trace app". ITV News. 19 June 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  9. Badhon, Saidul (17 June 2020). "Coronavirus: Health minister says app should roll out by winter". TechSecBD. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  10. Hill, Louise (11 May 2020). "More Than 55,000 People Download Isle Of Wight Coronavirus App". Isle Of Wight Radio News. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  11. Stewart, Heather (27 May 2020). "How will England's coronavirus test-and-trace system work?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  12. "Government downplays importance of app for test, track and trace plan". Express and Star. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  13. Woodcock, Andrew (17 June 2020). "NHS contact-tracing app may not be ready until winter, health minister admits". The Independent. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  14. Kelion, Leo (18 June 2020). "UK virus-tracing app switches to Apple-Google model". BBC News. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  15. Vincent, James (5 May 2020). "Without Apple and Google, the UK's contact-tracing app is in trouble". The Verge. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  16. Kelion, Leo (27 April 2020). "NHS rejects Apple-Google coronavirus app plan". BBC News. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  17. Vincent, James (5 May 2020). "Without Apple and Google, the UK's contact-tracing app is in trouble". The Verge. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  18. Clarke, Laurie (4 May 2020). "Uncertainty over who could access NHSX contact tracing app data as pilot goes live". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 6 May 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  19. Martin, Alexander (29 April 2020). "Coronavirus: NHS contact-tracing app could be abused by spies, security experts warn". Sky News. Archived from the original on 6 May 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  20. Hall, Kathleen (7 May 2020). "The tech firms getting their hands on NHS patient data to fight coronavirus". Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Archived from the original on 9 May 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  21. O'Flaherty, Kate (6 May 2020). "The U.K.'s COVID-19 Contact Tracing App: Everything You Need To Know". Forbes. Archived from the original on 9 May 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  22. McCarthy, Kieren (5 May 2020). "UK finds itself almost alone with centralized virus contact-tracing app that probably won't work well, asks for your location, may be illegal". The Register. Archived from the original on 8 May 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  23. Ahmed, Nafeez (6 May 2020). "Vote Leave Firm Tied to Cambridge Analytica 'Configured' NHSX Contact Tracing App". Byline Times. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  24. Kelion, Leo (4 May 2020). "Coronavirus: UK contact-tracing app is ready for Isle of Wight downloads". BBC News. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  25. Lomas, Natasha (5 June 2020). "UK's COVID-19 health data contracts with Google and Palantir finally emerge". TechCrunch. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  26. Hencke, David (22 April 2020). "Palantir Coronavirus Contract Did Not Go to Competitive Tender". Byline Times. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  27. "Breaking chains of COVID-19 transmission to help people return to more normal lives: developing the NHS Test and Trace service". GOV.UK. Department of Health and Social Care. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  28. Kelion, Leo (13 August 2020). "England's coronavirus app trial gets under way". BBC News. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
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