The app - is this a conspiracy theory or true?

[FlaskMaster]

Most of the world is using Facebook or something to do a contact tracing app, but the UK has decided to get idox to create a new one from scratch for £2.5million, not following the appropriate procurement protocols. And Dominic Cummings' wife was just made a director of idox the week before they got this contract.

Is that true, or a conspiracy theory?

Aibu to think that, if true, this fucking stinks? Just like giving Dyson a massive contract to develop new ventilators instead of just commissioning manufacturers who were already making them. Is anyone checking the government's contracts or can they just do whatever shit deals with their friends and get away with it, even more than usual?

[VickyEadieofThigh]

Cummings definitely knows where a considerable number of bodies are buried - his influence on government policy is staggering.

[Aposterhasnoname]

Dominic Cummings wife, Mary Wakefield is commissioning editor for the spectator.

There is a director of Idox, called Alice Cummings. Nothing to do with Dominic as far as I can see. All this is easily found on google.

[candycane222]

There are some doubts about whether it will actually work though www.theregister.co.uk/2020/05/05/uk_coronavirus_app/

[CuriousaboutSamphire]

As APoster said... misinformation about his wife!

[Frozade]

Was Google and apple not Facebook, that came up with the blueprint for a more privacy focused with decentralised data approach www.apple.com/covid19/contacttracing

[Tatty101]

Please do not share false info OP, it is intended to upset people. Its very easy to find the answer to that as other PPs have done.

[FlaskMaster]

Thank you Aposter maybe that's where the rumour started then. So it's probably more likely another shit decision to piss away a load of money commissioning something from scratch for the sake of it, instead of doing it the much quicker and cheaper ready-made way. Still, not as bad as people are making out I suppose, there's a measure of success!

[onalongsabbatical]

It behoves us to remember that human beings are better at cocking up than they are at successfully conspiring.

[LemonTT]

Or @Flaskmaster, you could just be completely wrong and totally at fault for spreading lies. No need for self reflection on your own gullibility.

[Aposterhasnoname]

Actually, rather than “a shit decision to piss away a load of money for the sake of it” the idea is to stop a lot of false positives being sent out, and prevent malicious false reporting.

But keep trying. I’m sure you’ll find something else to be outraged at.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.zdnet.com/google-amp/article/contact-tracing-apps-why-the-nhs-said-no-to-apple-and-googles-plan/

[FlaskMaster]

Hmm. Maybe. But isn't it legit to ask about rumours which are pretty widespread already? I wasn't saying "guess what, xyz has happened", I was just referring to shit people are saying and asking if it was true. If people can't do that I think that's pretty bad tbh.

[Theworldisfullofgs]

Doesn't look like it will work properly.

We've got the highest death rate in europe now, so I'm not sure I'd trust them with my health

[PastMyBestBeforeDate]

Baffles me why we are insisting on writing a new and different app when other countries have already written something that works. The government and NHS both have dreadful track records in developing and implementing computer systems!

[Aposterhasnoname]

We've got the highest death rate in europe now, so I'm not sure I'd trust them with my health

No we haven’t. Italy have more, but the tats utterly meaningless as everyone’s measuring differently.

Our death rate is 432.16 per million population, lower than Belgium -693.74 Spain - 544.22 and Italy - 481.19

www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/

[CuriousaboutSamphire]

We've got the highest death rate in europe now, so I'm not sure I'd trust them with my health Please don't! It isn't as simple as absolute numbers.

Not only is population size a factor but populations density too

United Kingdom is 281 per Km2
Belgium is 383 per Km2 - so their higher rate/million is no surprise, comparatively
Spain - 91.4 per Km2 - so their numbers are high both for population and density measures using the UK as a baseline
Italy - 206 per Km2 - so their numbers are also high both for population and density measures using the UK as a baseline

And there are countless other confounding factors!

[BirdieFriendReturns]

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/tech.newstatesman.com/coronavirus/palantir-covid19-datastore-coronavirus/amp

“The project is being managed by NHSX, Peter Thiel’s controversial data analysis firm Palantir, and the London AI company Faculty.”

“ However, the spotlight has turned to the company in the last night fortnight after its chief executive’s brother, Ben Warner, was named as one of the two political advisers who attended the SAGE meetings in March. The other was the prime minister’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings. Warner and Cummings worked together on Vote Leave and the former has been appointed as a data science adviser to Downing Street in recent months.”

“Over the last year, the company has become the go-to source on AI guidance and data science work within government. As NS Tech reported in December, Faculty was commissioned to carry out a review of the application of artificial intelligence across Whitehall last year. But the government blocked the full publication of its report following a request under transparency rules by NS Tech.”

“Faculty has also secured a year-long contract to provide data science consultancy services focusing on the government’s public-facing website, GOV.UK. The contract came just weeks after it emerged that Downing Street was gathering user data generated through the site.“

[BirdieFriendReturns]

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/12/uk-government-using-confidential-patient-data-in-coronavirus-response

bylinetimes.com/2020/04/22/palantir-coronavirus-contract-did-not-go-to-competitive-tender/

“ According to the Guardian, Faculty – which had a pre-existing contract with other companies to help build a £250 million artificial intelligence lab for the NHSX subsidiary – took on a leading role in the data response to the pandemic. It is run by Marc Warner, whose brother, Ben, was reported by the Sunday Times to have been recruited to Downing Street by Cummings after running the Conservative Party’s private election model.

Ben Warner, who used to be a principal at his brother’s AI company, is said to have worked closely with Cummings on the modelling programme used in the Vote Leave campaign.”

[BirdieFriendReturns]

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-tests-contact-tracing-serco-g4s-private-firm-a9497371.html%3famp

Plan to use private firm at centre of outsourcing scandal to run contact tracing attacked.

[WoollyMollyMonkey]

I’ve read that Cummings has some sort of connection to the developer of the app. Pigs with snouts in the trough. I shall not touch it with a barge pole.