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Original poster

Will you be getting the track and trace app? If not, why not?

372 replies

FairIsleFenella · 25/09/2020 17:59

I've downloaded it. The only info I had to give was the first half of my postcode. I'm happy to use it, I have nothing to hide! However, I know there will be people who are unhappy to use it. If you are one of them, please tell me why. Is it a civil liberties issue?

OP posts:
YogaPantsSavedMyLife · 26/09/2020 15:33

On twitter today:

NHS COVID-19 app
@NHSCOVID19app
Replying to
@DamoB1970
Hi Damian,

If your test took place in a Public Health England lab or NHS hospital, or as part of national surveillance testing conducted by the Office for National Statistics, test results cannot currently be linked with the app whether they’re positive or negative

I've uninstalled it. Yet again, a massive and possibly not entirely unintentional fuck-up by the donkeys who 'lead' us.

HeIenaDove · 26/09/2020 15:42

hmm My smartphone costs me £8.50 a month through Tesco so really doesn't break the bank anyway

People arent going to commit themselves to new contracts now with cuts on the cards to pay for all this. Tories are known for targeting cuts on those with the least. People on low incomes have experience of them doing this. Actions have consequences.

Weaverspin · 26/09/2020 15:56

I can’t update to the latest iOS because I have an ancient 5S which won’t cope. And it doesn’t have the right hardware anyway. And now I’ve heard you can even input NHS test results, I just don’t see the point.

happymummy12345 · 26/09/2020 15:59

I have it as I will need it to sign in when I go for my fortnightly appointments at the beauty salon.

SpringSunshineandTulips · 26/09/2020 16:02

If you can’t input nhs results then surely it’s not worth it? I’ve got it but not been anywhere so haven’t used it to check in. What I don’t u first and is if you are pinged that you were in, say, a coffee shop at the same time as someone who’s been tested and has Covid do you HAVE to isolate? Because you may have been in the coffee shop at the same time but nowhere near each other? It’s different to if you are in school with someone in my eyes. Puts me off going anywhere if I’m going to have to isolate from a coffee shop encounter.

TinySleepThief · 26/09/2020 16:02

@happymummy12345

I have it as I will need it to sign in when I go for my fortnightly appointments at the beauty salon.
Genuine question if I also attended the same beauty salon and had done for a while would I now not be welcome because my phone doesn't support the app? Or is there still an option to record my details on paper?
PinkSparklyPussyCat · 26/09/2020 16:07

@TinySleepThief I asked my beauty salon what they will do and they have paper back up. They confirmed they wouldn't turn me away!

HeIenaDove · 26/09/2020 16:08

My hairdresser has asked people to download the app but also takes paper details for those who cant or dont have smartphones or whose phones are too old. They have been trading for forty years, a lot of her customers are well over 60. She already has my details.........they already have to do that if you are having your hair coloured . They colour my hair so already have my details.

HeIenaDove · 26/09/2020 16:09

@RedToothBrush Totally agree with all that you said.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe · 26/09/2020 16:09

No because the only places I go to at the moment is the odd supermarkets - and mostly the gym where my membership card scan is used for track and trace.

I don't take my phone with me so there's no point. I also don't see the benefit of it, it's like yet another 'key jangling' distraction to get the public to feel as if the control of this virus is in their hands when it really isn't.

You can only control for yourself, your own person.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe · 26/09/2020 16:11

Oh and the government knows where we are and they have access to all of our phone numbers anyway, goodness knows what else?

I'm just disengaged and carrying on.

Plussizejumpsuit · 26/09/2020 16:12

Probably not as the information governance around it really poor, its known for draining your battery and I don't go out to bars and restaurants now so only pass people who I don't live with.

TinySleepThief · 26/09/2020 16:12

[quote PinkSparklyPussyCat]@TinySleepThief I asked my beauty salon what they will do and they have paper back up. They confirmed they wouldn't turn me away![/quote]
That's reassuring, I'm quite worried the little freedom we currently have will be removed if they insist on us using the app.

I've seen a few people that have said they have already encounted this situation and a cafe near to us have posted on their fb page they wont seat and serve people who dont use the app, they will allow takeaway options only for those unable to use it.

Nappyvalley15 · 26/09/2020 16:12

Totally agree with you redtooth. A friend was turned away from the cinema for not downloading the app and wasn't offered an alternative.

NiknicK · 26/09/2020 16:13

No I won’t be downloading it. Firstly because I don’t think it will do anything to help and secondly because I don’t like the idea of it. My ds however is at college and he’s been made to download the app as have the other students. He has to scan his phone on entry to the college and it will automatically track him if anyone who has a positive covid result
has been in contact with him and he’ll be notified to self isolate for 14 days. Now my ds is a lovely boy, he is bright, (averaging 9’s in all subjects) has the common sense that a lot of our youngsters lack (despite being academically clever) and he has been sticking to social distancing washing his hands, wearing mask everywhere he goes etc unlike most of his class mates, and even he says he thinks this track and trace is dodgy and a complete waste of time and money.

Nappyvalley15 · 26/09/2020 16:20

Nitnick. It is this type of overreach that is concerning. Before long a voluntary app becomes mandatory.

NiknicK · 26/09/2020 16:23

What exactly is concerning? I don’t see why people should be made to download this app if they don’t feel comfortable with the idea. And what about the thousands of elderly people who don’t even own a mobile phone. They are the ones most likely to die from covid.

TinySleepThief · 26/09/2020 16:25

My ds however is at college and he’s been made to download the app as have the other students.

It's a voluntary app ffs are they seriously going to withhold his education if he doesn't download it? Also what on earth do they do if you simply can't download it due to your phone not being compatible? This is exactly the sort of crap I was referring to.

NiknicK · 26/09/2020 16:29

Well my ds said there was nothing voluntary about it. He was told he had to download it and that was that. They are a large college and have had quite a few cases so maybe that’s why they insisted on it.

ARudeTerriblePerson · 26/09/2020 16:33

No.

TinySleepThief · 26/09/2020 16:33

@NiknicK

Well my ds said there was nothing voluntary about it. He was told he had to download it and that was that. They are a large college and have had quite a few cases so maybe that’s why they insisted on it.
But that's my point they can't demand or insist as it's voluntary. Has the college made alternative arrangements and taken into consideration what would happen if a child didn't have a phone, or their phone didn't support the app? The can't exactly say no app no education.
FatimaMunchy · 26/09/2020 16:34

I downloaded it because we were going out to lunch today. The pub said it didn't notify them of cases so we had to download their app.

NiknicK · 26/09/2020 16:40

Yes my ds said they’ve put alternative arrangements in place for the small few who don’t have phones. It’s a rather affluent college (we aren’t affluent) and so I’d say 98% of kids have i phones the latest models which are all compatible with the app. I actually don’t agree with it and thinks it wrong that they have been effectively forced to download it.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe · 26/09/2020 16:53

FatimaMunchy, that's outrageous. Any pub/restaurant that tried to impose this on me wouldn't have my custom. Ever.

Some people have really stopped thinking, just happily following with no idea where they're going.

RepeatSwan · 26/09/2020 16:59

No, given it has either been designed not to link with the NHS bits of testing, or it is a fuck up.

I don't think it'll benefit meuch anyway as I am honestly not classed as a contact with anyone because I am obsessed with the 2m rule and only meet friends outside.