The latest Digital Health Unplugged news team debrief is now live, focusing on the NHS contact-tracing app.
The app has been front and centre of headlines recently, with new developments coming through every week. A trial was launched in the Isle of Wight at the beginning of May, with a wider roll-out expected at the end of the month.
Join host and senior reporter Andrea Downey, editor Hannah Crouch and editor-in-chief Jon Hoeksma as they look at the whether the app will be successful, if NHSX has taken the right approach, and the continuing concerns around contact-tracing.
NHSX has faced fierce criticism over its decision to opt for a centralised approach to contact-tracing, opposing Apple and Google’s decentralised model, due to the increased privacy and security risks.
The apps ethics advisory board has warned that unreliable contact-tracing apps could provide a false sense of security and increase the spread of the virus, calling for widespread testing to be incorporated into the app “as soon as reasonably possible”.
Privacy and security concerns have dogged the tracing solution for a number of weeks, sparking concerns the NHS won’t be able to achieve the 60% uptake it needs for the app to be successful.
Reports have surfaced of a second contact-tracing app being developed, this time following Apple Google’s decentralised approach to allay concerns associated with the current approach.
All that and more is discussed on this month’s news team debrief.
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