British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there is “high privacy” in the coronavirus contact-tracing app.
He said a user’s phone will store anonymously the information about all the phones it has been within two metres of for more than 15 minutes in the previous few days.
The British government’s coronavirus tracing app will start rolling out on the Isle of Wight on Tuesday, as a row erupted over whether it has passed key cyber security and privacy tests.
The Health Service Journal reported that it has not yet passed tests on cyber security, performance and clinical safety needed to be included in the NHS app library.
Mr Hancock said one of the aspects being tested in the trial on the Isle of Wight is whether the best thing is for someone who gets a message saying they have been in contact with someone with symptoms should self-isolate “in case you develop the symptoms”.
He told BBC Breakfast: “This is one of the reasons that we want to test it to ensure that we get the rules right around what we advise people to do as soon as the contact tracing pings you.”
Mr Hancock said the app would allow the government to have a picture of where there might be virus hotspots.
He said: “The more people who have the app the better.”
He said human contact tracing is important alongside technology.
He said: “Of course we use the technology but we’re going to be using people too in this test, track and trace system.”
The app uses the Bluetooth signals on smartphones to log when users come into close contact with each other. When one user reports symptoms in the app that are deemed likely to be Covid-19 an alert is sent to all those clocked as being in contact within 21 days, advising them to self-isolate.
Those without a smartphone can report symptoms by phone or other routes.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Dr William Matchett, an ex-Special Branch officer said retired officers may be cautious about downloading the app.
"I guess it's a case of how tightly this is controlled," he said.
Stressing that he is not familiar with the technology, he added that any system is always "open to being hacked".
"When you have anything online... if it's in the ether so to speak, then it can always be hacked," Dr Matchett explained.
DUP councillor Kyle Black, whose prison officer father was murdered by dissident Republicans, told the Belfast Telegraph that it is crucial all security protection measures have been taken by the government.
"All prison and police officers in Northern Ireland have to take extra precautions about their personal security, and that includes online and through digital communication," he said.
Pressed on privacy and the use of data, Mr Hancock reiterated that information will be stored on a person’s phone until the point they need to get in contact with the NHS to get a test.
He said: “I think we can give very significant reassurances on the privacy aspect but what I can tell you is that if you download the app then you are doing your duty and you are helping to save lives, and you’re helping to control the spread of the virus, and that’s true as of this morning on the Isle of Wight amongst NHS staff, but it’ll be true increasingly across the country as we roll it out.”
Mr Hancock said the app is “a very, very positive step in terms of us all being able to get some of our liberty back”.
He added: “By having the test, track and test in place we can release more of the social distancing measures and, as I said, the more people who download it … the more effective it will be and the more we can control the spread of the virus, and that’s why it’s so important to do this.”
Mr Hancock was asked why the UK app is different to the Google and Apple app being used in other countries.
He said: “Other countries don’t have the NHS, they have private healthcare, and it doesn’t work in quite the same way, and that means that we’ve got additional features on ours, but of course we’re working with Apple and Goggle and it may be that if you go abroad you might need to download the app of a different country.
“Fine, that’s not a problem, but of course very few people are travelling at the moment, so that really is an issue for the future rather than for now.
“The system that we’re building is all about trying to make sure we do everything we can to control the spread of the virus because that will then help us to be able to release more of the social distancing measures that are impacting on everybody.”
