UK to start testing its COVID-19 tracking app this week



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As previously reported, the UK will break with Apple-Google’s “decentralized” approach. Instead, the NHSX technology group NHSX chose a centralized model, in which a list of contacts made via Bluetooth signals will be stored on users’ devices as anonymous tokens. If a user has positive symptoms or tests, contacts can be sent to the application, which analyzes the data and sends notifications if necessary.

While critics say the centralized approach raises privacy concerns, NHSX CEO Matthew Gould said Reuters that the group “put privacy at the heart” of the app. He explained that the application does not know who the users are, where they are or who they have been close to. Britain’s Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham noted that the centralized approach will allow the UK to gain more insight into the virus, something a decentralized approach could limit.

Yesterday, France announced that it will begin testing its COVID-19 tracking app starting May 11, and Australia has already released its own version. In the USA In the USA, a group of senators is working on a bill that would establish the requirements for data collection and transparency in COVID-19 monitoring applications, and Apple and Google have described how public health authorities across the world can use their next tracking system to preserve user privacy

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