Great Britain’s National Health Service reportedly asked the developers of its COVID-19 app to investigate switching to Apple and Google’s contact-tracing approach even as its U.K. launch approaches. The move came after widespread concerns over privacy issues and battery life, according to a published report Wednesday.
The U.K. reportedly decided to go with a coronavirus contact-tracing application different from the system Apple and Google are creating jointly. The National Health Service built an app that creates a central database of people who have tested positive for COVID-19. The Apple and Google solution uses a decentralized system for privacy reasons.
Apple and Google are reportedly in a “standoff” with the UK’s National Health Service over the development of the companies’ joint program to build contact tracing APIs.
According to a report from The Guardian, the two companies are taking a strong stand against the NHS’s insistence to break current Bluetooth privacy protocols. The NHS is hoping Apple and Google will lift their limits on how Bluetooth can be used, but Google says those limits are in place so that they can’t be abused for surveillance efforts.
Great Britain’s National Health Service has confirmed plans to use joint contact tracing technology developed by Apple and Google in an upcoming app to warn users if they have been near someone suspected of being infected with COVID-19.
Apple’s websites for the U.K. and France were on Thursday updated to display COVID-19 advice from the government.
Large featured sections on their homepages remind visitors of the official advice related to the coronavirus pandemic. In the U.K., this includes the same National Health Service (NHS) video that can be found in the App Store.
Apple on Thursday placed the U.K. government’s public service announcement on COVID-19 at the very top of the App Store.
Customers who visit will be greeted first and foremost by chief medical officer Chris Whitty’s guidance on reducing the spread of the coronavirus. They will also see a handy link to the NHS app for iOS.
Photo of Andrew Lansley looking at apps from Department of Health Flickr feed; used with permission
Doctors in the UK might soon be able to prescribe apps as well as drugs, following a government study that asked the public to nominate their own favorite health-related apps.
British Prime Minister David Cameron is having a personalized iPad app built by programmers inside the Cabinet Office that will provide him with the latest information he needs to run the country, The Telegraph reports. The app, which was inspired by advisers after a trip to the U.S., will compile real-time information like NHS waiting-list figures, crime statistics, unemployments numbers, and more all in one place.
