Being denied entry because you dont have the track and trace app?

[Rudolphian]

I haven't downloaded the app due to personal reasons.
I have started hearing stories about people being denied entry to pubs/ restaurants and cafes because they havent got the app.
Is this true?
Now I'm wondering what I'd do if it came into work, or if I'm told its compulsory to have to go to the supermarket?
Pretty sure its not a legal requirement yet.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54328644
Police told not to download NHS Covid-19 app

The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) has confirmed officers are being told not to install the NHS Covid-19 app on their work smartphones.

The app detects when users have been in proximity to someone with the virus.

Some officers have also been told they may not need to obey self-isolate alerts generated by the app when downloaded to their personal phones.

Lancashire Constabulary has told staff to call the force's own Covid-19 helpline instead.

The BBC contacted the North-West of England force after a source said the advice had been given because of "security reasons".

The source also said officers had been told not to carry their personal phones while on duty if they had activated the app.

This applies to staff working in public-facing roles as well as those in back-office positions.

We went to the pub on Friday and they were turning people away who did not have it.
Rightly so !

@HunkyPunk

Haha! Coincidentally I've just received a text on my ancient iPhone requesting that I download the app. Almost as if someone knows I've been discussing the matter on here. Spooky! Shame I can't.

Don't worry @HunkyPunk, they aren't reading MN (or are they?) - everyone registered with a GP in England (but not Wales) has been sent a request to download the app. Either by email if your GP has it (that's how I got mine) or by text if your GP has your mobile number. Details here.

They probably are discriminating contrary to the Equality Act though. I am over 50 and have a blackberry and I think my siblings have pretty ancient mobiles. My 85 year old neighbour only has an iphone. It is an age not just a money issue for many. Also the less well off who are often not white in some parts of London have older phones that will not take the app so it might also be racist to exclude people as well as ageist.

The fuck I'm going to waste money upgrading a mobile I hardly use to enable another government fuck up. I have the money for one, but like Xenia, don't care to spunk money on that.

Someone in a local fb group has said they have been refused entry to McDonalds because he doesnt have the app.

@tribpot I haven't received anything from my GP other than texts telling me how covid cases are rising in my area, nothing about the app.

@HeIenaDove

Someone in a local fb group has said they have been refused entry to McDonalds because he doesnt have the app.

In August I was in a large city and it was track and trace to sit in McDonald's. I took my meal to go and ate it on a park bench.

Someone in a local fb group has said they have been refused entry to McDonalds because he doesnt have the app

I went to mcd’s yesterday. It was a QR code to scan. I don't have the app and had no problem.

Of course it may vary between branches, but the app definitely isn’t a requirement for mcd’s.

I've got a perfectly useable iphone 6 (I think its a 6) and the app won't work on mine. I cannot afford to spend £250 on another one (even refurbished second-hand one) as my work is affected so badly by lockdown. If they ban people without T&T I reckon they'll be such an outcry they'll do what they usually so - u-turn immediately!

If you cant use the app, you need to provide your Contact details to the venue, or if you are in a group, one of you does. This is to protect everyone if someone in the venue has the virus( Subject to various guidelines). Why wouldn't you want to provide your details? Or, if it means that much to you, don't go to places which are required to take these details . Simples.

I think it’s fair for businesses to request this. As they will be the ones that have to close and loss money if they get an out break in their business.

@Redjoy

If you cant use the app, you need to provide your Contact details to the venue, or if you are in a group, one of you does. This is to protect everyone if someone in the venue has the virus( Subject to various guidelines). Why wouldn't you want to provide your details? Or, if it means that much to you, don't go to places which are required to take these details . Simples.

Nobody's objecting to providing their details.

According to many on this thread, a number of venues have introduced a 'no app, no entry' rule and will no longer accept details provided with pen and paper.

If venues are reasonably Covid-secure with spaced-out tables, no bar service, mask-wearing unless sat at table etc. then the prospect of being infected by someone other than the people I am with is de minimis and vice versa. If the people I am with get infected they will let me know.

I am surprised how many people are willing to put themselves in a position of potentially having to legally quarantine at the whim of a flawed and possibly dysfunctional app.

You must give your details to be allowed entry but this can be done on a paper log. A venue has the right to refuse entry to anyone not supplying details. The app part is optional. My phone is too old apparently and it doesn't work on iPhones.

I don't have a problem with the app and have used it several times, it is easier than writing your details in a book, more hygienic, and safer, you are not advertising that your house may be empty, you are not leaving your phone number on public display and it doesn't keep a record on the device of where you have been.

They are supposed to give you the option of signing in manually or taking your details. That is a basic requirement if you can't scan the app.
The venue cannot enforce the app as some people may not have the most suitable phone for it.

@goldenwarbler

My phone doesn't support the app and not in a position to upgrade my phone either. I got turned away from three places yesterday as the person I was with doesn't have a smart phone. We asked if they could take our details another way as happy to provide them/take part of track and trace but they all said no. 2 of the places only had 1-2 table occupied so looked as if they could have done with our business. But if they're turning away paying customers cos they won't take track and trace details any other way then it's their own fault if they go bust, surely?

They should offer you an alternative way of recording your visit. I saw this in a cafe today; the staff member recorded a customer’s details on a store phone. I think some venues are reluctant to do this because it takes time, especially when the customer is ‘senior’ and wearing a mask.

@Jessy2903 so basically anyone who has an older iPhone should be prevented from socialising?

So I should call my mum & tell her to spend £££ on a new iPhone simply to go to the pub? She has a totally functioning iPhone 4. She uses it for texts, emails, calls & WhatsApp. That's what she wants.
Now you say she HAS to change it for his app?
And her old phone goes to Landfill? Great.

@PseudoBadger

"In England, you do not have to request details from people who check in with the official NHS QR poster, and venues should not ask them to do both. Venues must not make the specific use of the NHS QR code a precondition of entry (as the individual has the right to choose to provide their contact details if they prefer). Should someone choose to check in with the official NHS QR poster, a venue should check their phone screen to ensure they have successfully checked in"

This is absolutely correct, establishments MUST refuse entry if someone refuses to scan the qr code and refuse to do Supply their name and contact information manually. The only exception to this is if some has a mental health/disability that prevents then from understanding and being able to do so.

No one here is saying they won't give details @Sleeeeeeeeeeep, the issue is venues wrongly refusing entry to people without the app.

@Jessy2903

We went to the pub on Friday and they were turning people away who did not have it. Rightly so !

I don't have a smartphone, not everyone does. Some people may not be able to use them because of disability.

Baaaaahhhhhhhhhhh

Apparently people have been denied covid test, because didn't have app

@PinkSparklyPussyCat

No one here is saying they won't give details *@Sleeeeeeeeeeep*, the issue is venues wrongly refusing entry to people without the app.

I know, what I am is saying the only time an establishment is allowed to refuse entry is if both options are refused, so like the op said she was willing to manually give their information so the establishment has done wrong and if I am right they can be fined for failure to comply...

Failure to comply
Collecting contact details and maintaining records for NHS Test and Trace is a legal requirement and failure to comply is punishable by a fine. The first fixed penalty is £1,000, the second is £2,000, the third is £3,000, and any further penalty notice thereafter is £4,000. The person responsible for the organisation is liable. This could be the owner, proprietor or manager with overall responsibility of the organisation, business or service.