Coronavirus Covid19 smartphone trace and Track App - Check your symptoms - NHS App tech

Associated keywords: Auutomate, automation, Matthew Gould, Bluetooth technology, Bluetooth Signals, personal information, symptoms, risk algorithm, VMware Pivotal Labs, software firm Zuhlke, National Cyber Security Centre, NCSC, user data, devices, Android phones, privacy concerns How was the NHS Covid-19 app planned to work? Contact tracing apps aim to automate the human process by using the phone in your pocket. More than 30 countries are building tracing apps and the UK is no different. Its tracing software – the NHS Covid-19 app – has been trialled on the Isle of Wight since May 7. The island was picked as a testbed before wider rollout across the UK and more than 50, 000 people on the island have downloaded the app. "It’s highly unlikely the Covid-19 virus is going to go away, " Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s deputy chief medical officer, said as details of the app were revealed at the start of May. "Testing and contact tracing is going to have to become part of our daily lives in the future." Matthew Gould, the CEO for NHSX, the technology arm of the NHS, says the logic for creating the app is clear: it can potentially allow cases to be identified earlier and reduce the spread of the coronavirus. The app works using Bluetooth signals. Bluetooth technology within phones, which has to be turned on at all times, broadcasts an identifier that is unique to that device. The identifier is essentially a random string of numbers that updates on a regular basis and doesn’t include any personal information. When your phone is near another Bluetooth device the two will exchange their identifiers. A list of all the devices, in the form of their unique codes, are stored on your phone for 28 days. Nothing else happens unless a user indicates that they are experiencing coronavirus symptoms. There is very limited functionality within the app. The only thing that users can do is report if they have Covid-19 symptoms. Within the app there is one central question: "how are you feeling today?