Would you download the app?

[PineappleDanish]

Much talk today about the app which is being developed by the NHS and the idea that this could be used to track where the virus is active and track the contacts of people who go on to develop symptoms. Apparently this is what has been done in South Korea to great effect.

So would you download it?

Although I have nothing to hide, I'm not terribly comfortable with the government knowing where I am every minute of every day, and texting me to tell me someone who was in the supermarket at the same time as me has symptoms. But if it allows us to get back to a semblance of normality I reckon the benefits outweigh the concerns.

[dotty202]

yes, as long as I can delete it as soon as this is over.

[dotty202]

I’d rather be allowed outside and they know where I am than being sat in my house and wondering if I’ll ever return to work, be able to pay my mortgage, etc... Doesn’t mean I’d be happy about it, but better than house arrest!

[SD1978]

Given the vast majority of us are happy to give out details to every Tom dick and harry, to say no seems daft. Google, Facebook, amazon, etc- we happily give them and heck knows who access to everything (in a lot of cases)- and yet this has some folk screeching about human rights. Depending on your social medical and technology use- many happily gave them up years ago. So I'd say This isn't any more of an invasion to the privacy Weber already given away

[TripTrappingOverMyBridge]

No, as I haven't got a smartphone or tablet.

[PineappleDanish]

My concern would be for someone like my Mum. 75 but no underlying health conditions apart from severe technophobia. She woudln't be able to download the app as she doesn't have a smartphone.

The worry would be that getting out and about and doing "stuff" again would be conditional on having the app installed - although most people under the age of 60ish probably have a smartphone, many older people don't.

[Mistlewoeandwhine]

I would do it so long as I could free myself of it a couple of years down the line.

[IsolatedIzzy]

Yep I would!

[ScarlettDarling]

Most definitely.

[BestOption]

I'd want to know what they could access, what they were 'capturing' and if it's possible to properly delete it if/when you want to.

I can't see it helping us individually as we won't be able to self isolate every time it tells us our phone has been within 2 meters of someone with CV will we ?!


But 'for the greater good' probably, yes

[jasjas1973]

No chance.
Deleting may not be enough and i don't trust Cummings etc not to use this data for other purposes.

[iVampire]

I wouldn’t bother, because I’m shielding and not going anywhere.

And of course if a postie, supermarket delivery driver or NHS motorcycle courier (the only people who I’ve interacted with, fleetingly and at a proper distance) they would also need to check their work records - because you don’t necessarily carry your phone to the door with you and it might not ‘ping’ from where you left it to your front door

The tech will be a godsend to security and intelligence organisations.

[PineappleDanish]

I think they'd want to do more work on length of contact. Someone you passed in the street wouldn't count as a "contact". Someone you sat next to on a train for 20 minutes would.

I do get the concerns about data but it's a price worth paying.

[JassyRadlett]

Yes definitely. Our behaviours and locations can be tracked by companies to such a huge degree already. And the government definitely knows where I bloody am all the time at the moment!

[PicsInRed]

No, look at what an app just like this is being used for in China

No. No. No.

[PuzzledObserver]

I'm not terribly comfortable with the government knowing where I am every minute of every day

They won’t know where you’ve been (it’s going to use BlueTooth, not GPS), or who you are. They will know that the owner of phone X has symptoms (because the owner of phone X has logged that fact), and they know that within the past week phone X has been within a short distance of phones A, B and C for a certain length of time. So it will ping a message to phones A, B and C telling them they should self-isolate.

But they don’t know who the owners of those phones are, or whether they follow the advice.

And if the owner of phone X gets tested and is negative, they will ping phones A, B and C again and tell them it was a false alarm. Phew - so then they can get on with their lives.

Will it stop all transmission, even if everybody who had a smartphone used it? No. Will it reduce transmission? Yes, because it will take the owners of phones A, B and C out of circulation when they might be incubating the virus and able to pass it on. So it will reduce the R number and contribute to being able to remove some of the general restrictions.

I will use it.

[PicsInRed]

I do get the concerns about data but it's a price worth paying.

It's really not.

[Fabuleuse]

I would

[heidihigh]

Yes, I would

[Daffodil101]

Yes of course.

[SwedishEdith]

No chance

[booboo24]

I definitely would, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest

[midgebabe]

Puzzled, the way I heard it's even more secure than you describe, your phone isn't pinged , instead your phone queries a database to see if any of the signals it heard have a possible or positive label

Well designed , no location tracking, physical freedom and low infection chances, I'm in

[pinkrocker]

It's not released yet is it?

[Noworrieshere]

Yes. But does it really mean that I will have to stay at home for 2 weeks every time I'm in the supermarket with someone positive? I imagine we could spend a lot of time in isolation. I don't quite understand how it will work

[WatchoutfortheROUS]

Nope