Track and Trace App Questions

[MissPoldark]

I dutifully downloaded the NHS covid track & trace app at the weekend, but I’m just wondering how sophisticated the technology is when it comes to alerting you about contacts.

I was thinking about potential scenarios:

I generally charge my phone next to an outside wall. On the other side is quite a busy footpath. I obviously haven’t been physically near anyone passing or stopping for a chat, but presumably the app doesn’t know that and would alert me if they tested positive?

At work, I sit next to an internal wall, which someone else also sits next to on the other side. There could also be people above and below. I guess the app can’t detect walls , so if the person in the adjacent office tests positive, the app will think I’ve been in contact with them. Not to mention above and below.

I know I can get around this by turning the Bluetooth off in certain situations, but it’s going to end up more often off than on, assuming I remember to do it!

I’m guessing the creators have considered these situations and it’s not perfect or 100% foolproof. But I can imagine many people receiving false alerts and isolating unnecessarily or forgetting to turn their Bluetooth on when really needed then missing true contacts....

Thanks Cuddling57 - I just tried that and there’s nothing Covid related there. So if we’ve been in contact with anyone infected, it’ll have to remain a mystery 🙄

BBC Q&A:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/technology-54326267

And for you @LaBelleSauvage123:

I get notifications which then disappear - what's going on?

A number of people have reported getting notifications about exposure to the virus and then not being able to find out what they need to do next.

Some are confused because of the way they are written - including the phrase "exposure date, duration and signal strength have been saved".

It appears that this again may be connected to the Apple-Google system, which sometimes sends out what are called exposure notifications. Here's what the FAQ from the app team says about this issue:

"These are default messages from Apple and Google. There is no need to be concerned if you miss or overlook them, they are just visible to remind you that the functionality is on and working. You're currently not able to turn off these default Apple and Google notifications.

"Important messages from the NHS Covid-19 app will always be visible to you from inside the app."

Many of the doubts eg about bluetooth accuracy on this thread are the reason why a request from the app to SI is NOT legally binding and subject to fines. That is in all the links below.

And, as said below, and also in the links, the "alerts" as a result of checking in somewhere that then has an outbreak will not be requests to SI - they will be to make sure you know and to encourage you to be careful and check for symptoms.

Some of those links have a lot of information in about what the app does and does not do and reading them made me much clearer.

Test and trace on Panorama now, it’s an absolute disaster, I will not go anywhere near it.