The NHS app question...

st3v3

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The app was developed when we were all indoors and the algorithm matched risk according.

We've noticed a lot of places being really pushy about using it, and we are sitting outside.

Any idea if the algorithm has been adjusted accordingly so as to not provide false positives because of the reduced outdoor risk?
 
Wouldn't know. Which app are you referring to? :unsure:

The only app I'm aware of last year I wasn't able to install on my phone, or Neil's, so I immediately forgot about it.
We won't be buying new mobiles any time soon - and certainly not just for an app!

Listening to the radio earlier today, I think this was being discussed?
Didn't hear the whole thing, was in and out the greenhouse working.
Some head honcho from the hospitality industry was saying details still have to be taken manually etc. from anyone who doesn't have the technology.
Otherwise it's discriminatory. Any establishment that won't let me use their services just because I don't have some app on a phone.... 🖕🤷‍♀️

Obviously it would be easier if everyone is using the same technology, but I think that particular ambition is still in dreamland.

Maybe if they'd made the various apps accessible for older phones?
But they didn't. I have no further comment, else a ban would be forthcoming! ;) :devilish:
 
No idea, but I've not seen or heard anything to suggest it has.

Not been turned away from anywhere as yet,( no app) but only been to a handful of places, lets see what happens tonight. :LOL:
 
The app was developed when we were all indoors and the algorithm matched risk according.

We've noticed a lot of places being really pushy about using it, and we are sitting outside.

Any idea if the algorithm has been adjusted accordingly so as to not provide false positives because of the reduced outdoor risk?
The app is definitely designed for when everyone is out and about, in shops etc or outside, and registers both proximity and the length of time in close proximity with another phone via bluetooth. Even outdoors, the longer you're in close proximity to someone, the more chance the virus has to reach you. The app wasn't released until September last year and it's had a couple of updates since then, so was never really for the 'stay at home' era... if you think about it, the bluetooth would never have had any other phones to talk to other than your family.
 
Just renewed my android ph to and 9 with 2 gig mem, so setting up my mail and duckduck go web engine i found blinkin GOOGLE sneakes in with wanting to know all my info, no mission, there is more spyware in there than the Cremlin, next mobile will defo be a pine ph running linux, i have just about had enuff.
 
Before the app was running we had to leave you details at the pub or restaurant, they had to keep them for 4 weeks for track and trace ,
 
It’s not simply a question of where or how the app is intended to be used, it’s the assumption that everyone in the UK will own a suitable phone to be able to use it in the first place.

Also, as @yorkslass has said, how useful it is rests on how well the data it collects is managed/followed up and integrated into other tracking systems across the UK (and overseas).

I might be completely wrong, but surely any app designed to ‘track and trace’ will only ever be as good as it’s overall uptake? :unsure:
 
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The only experience we had of the app was a visit to a restaurant in 2020 with son. He was notified of a contact but we werent...despite being on the same table, same restaurant, same time! Did not inspire confidence.
 
, and registers both proximity and the length of time in close proximity with another phone via bluetooth.
Yes, of course. But it's what values trigger an alert that bothers me. If those values are written to reflect the risk of an indoor setting then it's not necessarily right to get an alert if the same length/distance contact is outside.
 
I think they have moved on from the apps to pushing test kits I went to pick a prescription yesterday and our local chemist is really pushing the free self testing kits I came away with my meds and 3 kits one for each person in the household
 
Yes, of course. But it's what values trigger an alert that bothers me. If those values are written to reflect the risk of an indoor setting then it's not necessarily right to get an alert if the same length/distance contact is outside.

Maybe easier just switch it off or remove it, Steve.
In my book there are far more important things to worry about than some bit of dodgy software ;)(y)😘 😁
 
Yes, of course. But it's what values trigger an alert that bothers me. If those values are written to reflect the risk of an indoor setting then it's not necessarily right to get an alert if the same length/distance contact is outside.
I do see what you're saying but if you've been within 2m of anyone, indoors or out, for a good length of time and they subsequently test positive for covid, it's a risk worth knowing, so that you can get tested. I can't find any more detailed information anywhere, other than it's based on distance and length of time. If you get an alert, the data you can upload might well include precise location? I honestly don't know.

In response to others, I don't think there's any reason to think the software is at all dodgy other than the (now outdated and disproved) gleeful media digs in the early days during development. The app certainly doesn't drain my battery - I've not noticed any difference whatsoever. I always have bluetooth on anyway because the phone pairs with my car and the satnav in the van. To me, the app is just another helpful tool that I'd rather have working in the background than not and it's no trouble at all, so I don't really understand the negativity? Besides, the NHS recommend it, so I'm more than happy to do my bit.
 
No specific negativity.

Other than having something pushed at me which is going to require considerable up front expense on my part in order to be able to use it.

I'm sure the software works fine, I'm just questioning the extent of its usefulness overall. It must depend on take up, surely?

I'm also assuming (always dangerous!) we're all talking about the same app here and not got crossed wires?! :oops::)
 
The NHS Covid-19 app... the one that runs via bluetooth in the background. I can't find more recent figures but as of the end of last year, 21 million people were using it, so not bad at all considering it was only released in late September. I know some older IOS and Android systems can't run it. I've just got a new phone a few weeks ago but my last one was 5 years old and it ran it perfectly. My neighbour was frustrated because it wouldn't run on hers but she was planning an upgrade anyway because she couldn't Zoom either, so she's a happy bunny again now 😊
 

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