Five key questions about Google and Apple’s contact tracing system – The Telegraph

NHS tests found the Apple-Google system could not tell if another phone was one or three metres apart.

However, the NHSX projectquickly raninto a host of basic technical challenges.

To work, the contact tracing app needed to work smoothly with all smartphones. In other words, whatever phone or operating system you own had to be able to communicate effectively via Bluetooth with any other person's phone.

But developers soon found that they did not. For example,iPhones that fell idle or which were locked would no longer be able to match to other iPhones. The app would also not work on older versions of Android, Googles operating system used on most non-Apple devices.

The problem for the Government is the system Apple and Google were developing would store data in a different way to the UKs planned app. It would store all data locally on phones. In theory, this is more private.

Matt Hancock blamed Apple for refusing to make changes to its iOS software that would have allowed the UK app to work. He said: As it stands, our app won't work because Apple won't change their system.

The Government awarded contracts worth more than 11 million to companies to help develop its contact tracing app before its U-turn to work withAppleand Google.

According to Government records published online so far, 11 contracts have been awarded to private firms aiding the app's development totalling 11,297,811.

Apple and Googles system is based ona differentdecentralised model. It is not an app, per se, it is a software system that health authorities can build on.

Germany, Italy and Switzerland have all built and launched apps based on its technology.

The Apple/ Google system is different in the following ways:

This system, which stops a health authority from collecting masses of data on its population, is seen as more private by Apple and privacy advocates. Theyfear mission creep where governments might start to collecthuge amounts of other health data unchecked.

Crucially, Apple and Google aretackling some ofthe key technical challenges encountered by NHSX to allowiPhones tostill be able to collect data, even when they are left idle.

The tech giants launched their software tool on May 20, giving governments access to detect when Android and iOS devices came in close contact with one another when official apps were installed.

Apple and Googles application programming interface (API), which was released after five weeks of discussions with various states, operates on a centralised basis. The two tech giants argue its system is considerably more private than the alternative that has been pursued by the UK up until now.

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Five key questions about Google and Apple's contact tracing system - The Telegraph

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