A mobile app is about to be launched in the UK that will alert its users that there is a coronavirus patient nearby, using the nearby person’s mobile data.
This mobile app, developed by the UK’s National Health Service, will alert its user immediately if a confirmed patient of the coronavirus is nearby.
The app will trace Covid-19 patients using short-range Bluetooth signals, with the NHS saying the technology will be launched before the UK’s lockdown ends.
According to NHS officials, the more people use the app, the more effective it will be.
The said app will connect with the nearby mobile via Bluetooth and access the contacts of the other mobile.
The app will automatically alert the user if the person’s mobile data contains anything like a doctor’s visit (via location) or purchase of certain medicines and credit card usage for the same. .
However, this app will take some time to verify it so as not to give wrong information about a person. According to officials, privacy will also be taken care of through the app.
NHS England is also going to set up an ethical board to review the project.
During the development of the app, a group called Responsible Technologists wrote to the NHS and the Health Secretary last week saying that tracking a person’s location and contacts could amount to social control.
Apart from these, the app is being criticized as it will gain access to other people’s data, besides this app will not be able to check people who do not have a smartphone.
Officials believe this type of mobile app is the need of the hour to contain the deadly virus and reduce the strain on the UK’s medical system.
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2024-08-30 08:28:13
