Version two of the Isle of Wight Contact Tracing App is now a week overdue and the rollout of the App across the country is 11 days late.
Last month, Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, announced the Contact Tracing App would be launched across the country by 1st June.
Second version of App postponed
The BBC have revealed that the “Government decided to postpone the trial” of the second version of the App.
This will be news to anyone on the Isle of Wight, because no one has told us this before. The last Islanders had been told was at the end of May when we’d been informed they were preparing a ‘bigger update’ to be delivered the next week.
Switch to Apple/Google tech
That deadline has been clearly missed, but now the BBC reveal that ministers are rethinking the App and considering switching to the tech developed by Apple and Google. Something many people at the start of the Isle of Wight trial said should have been happening.
The BBC report the App developers are having difficulties using Bluetooth to estimate distance.
Better privacy?
Those concerned with protecting their privacy may be more willing to use the Apple/Google version of the App.
This is because it works on a decentralised system, meaning matches with others who have reported symptoms is carried out via phone to phone instead of via the centralised Government server.
Answers 22 days late
Questions about the Contact Tracing App and Coronavirus testing on the Isle of Wight, put to Public Health Isle of Wight and NHS Digital, which were then bumped over to the Department of Health and Social Care have now been outstanding for 22 days.
Full details of the App rethink can be found on the BBC Website.
