NHS COVID-19
NHS COVID-19 was a voluntary contact tracing app for monitoring the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in England and Wales. It had been available since 24 September 2020 for Android and iOS smartphones, and can be used by anyone aged 16 or over.[1]
For the NHS' response to the pandemic, see COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom § National health services response.Original author(s)
24 September 2020
9.8 MB
MIT
Two versions of the app have been created. The first was commissioned by NHSX and developed by the Pivotal division of American software company VMware. A pilot deployment was begun in May 2020, but on 18 June development of the app was abandoned in favour of a second design using the Apple/Google Exposure Notification system. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate contact tracing apps.
A 2023 study estimated that in its first year of use, the app's contact tracing function prevent an estimated 1 million cases, and 9,600 deaths.[2]
Context[edit]
The app was part of the UK's test and trace programme which was chaired by Dido Harding; from 12 May 2020 Tom Riordan, chief executive of Leeds City Council, led the tracing effort.[16]
First phase and cancellation[edit]
Description[edit]
In March 2020, NHSX commissioned a contact tracing app to monitor the spread in the United Kingdom of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the 2020 pandemic,[17] developed by the Pivotal division of American software company VMware.[18] The app used a centralised approach, in contrast to the Google / Apple contact tracing project. NHSX consulted ethicists and GCHQ's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) about the privacy aspects.[19][20]
The app recorded the make and model of the phone and asked the user for their postcode area. It generated a unique installation identification number and also a daily identification number. It then used Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to record the daily identification number of other users nearby.[21][22]
If a user was unwell, they could tell the app about symptoms which are characteristic of COVID-19, such as a fever and cough. These details were then passed to a central NHS server. This would assess the information and notify other users that have been in contact, giving them appropriate advice such as physical distancing. The NHS would also arrange for a swab test of the unwell user and the outcome would determine further notifications to contacts: if the test confirmed infection with COVID-19, the contacts would be asked to isolate.[21]
By June 2020, £11.8 million had been spent on the app;[23] in 2020–21, £35 million was spent on the app.[24]
Deployment[edit]
The first public trial of the app began on the Isle of Wight on 5 May 2020[19] and by 11 May it had been downloaded 55,000 times.[25]
When the first national contact tracing schemes were launched – Test, Trace, Protect in Wales on 13 May, then on 28 May NHS Test and Trace in England, and Test and Protect in Scotland – the app was not ready to be included.[26] Replying to a question at the government's daily briefing on 8 June, Hancock was unable to give a date for rollout of the app in England, saying it would be brought in "when it's right to do so".[27] On 17 June, Lord Bethell, junior minister for Innovation at the Department of Health and Social Care, said "we're seeking to get something going before the winter ... it isn't a priority for us at the moment".[28]
On 18 June, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced development would switch to the Apple/Google system after admitting that Apple's restrictions on usage of Bluetooth prevented the app from working effectively.[29] At the same press briefing Dido Harding, leader of the UK's test and trace programme, said "What we've done in really rigorously testing both our own Covid-19 app and the Google-Apple version is demonstrate that none of them are working sufficiently well enough to be actually reliable to determine whether any of us should self-isolate for two weeks [and] that's true across the world".[29]
Concerns[edit]
The first, ultimately rejected, version of the app was subject to privacy concerns, the government backtracking on initial statements that the data collected from the app would not be shared outside the NHS.[30] Matthew Gould, CEO of NHSX, the government department responsible for the app, said the data would be accessible to other organisations, but did not disclose which.[31] Data collected would not necessarily be anonymised[32][33] and would be held in a centralised repository.[34][35] Over 150 of the UK's security and privacy experts warned the app's data could be used by 'a bad actor (state, private sector, or hacker)' to spy on citizens.[32][36] Fears were discussed by the House of Commons' Human Rights Select Committee about plans for the app to record user location data.[37] Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights said this version of the app should not be released without proper privacy protections.
The second version of the app, released nationwide, addressed these concerns by employing a decentralised framework, the Apple/Google Exposure Notification system. Under this system, users remain pseudonymous: a person diagnosed with COVID-19 does not know which people are informed about an encounter, and contacted persons do not receive any information about the person diagnosed with COVID-19.
The functionality of the app was also questioned in late April and early May 2020, as the software's use of Bluetooth required the app to be constantly running, meaning users could not use other apps or lock their device if the app was to function properly.[38] The developers of the app were said to have found a way of working around this restriction.[39]
Related contracts[edit]
Faculty – a company linked to Cambridge Analytica – provided research and modelling to NHSX in support of the response to the pandemic. Palantir, also linked to Cambridge Analytica, provided their data management platform. These contracts began in February and March respectively.[40][41]
Decommissioning[edit]
In March 2023, it was reported in the Guardian that the NHS COVID-19 app would be decommissioned due to decreasing demand and the end of lockdown restrictions, though vaccine passport functions would remain available in the NHS app.[69] The final version was released on 24 April[70][71] and it was closed on 27 April.[72]
Key people[edit]
Within NHSX, the project was led by CEO Matthew Gould and Geraint Lewis.[73][20] Around 17 June, Gould and Lewis returned to their other duties, and Simon Thompson – chief product officer at online supermarket Ocado and a former Apple executive – was brought in to manage the project.[74] In October, Thompson was replaced by Gaby Appleton, on a six-month secondment from a directorship at academic publisher Elsevier.[75]
In October 2020, Randeep Sidhu held the post of 'head of product' for the app.[76]