A CORONAVIRUS contact tracing app set to launch in Wales next week will only notify users they are a 'high-risk contact' if someone who has been near them tests positive for Covid-19.
Simon Thompson, managing director of the NHS Covid-19 App, told MPs on the Commons science and technology committee that downloading the app was voluntary.
Asked about the distance-between-people sensitivity of the app, Mr Thompson said an alert was triggered based on medical advice, which is “around about two metres for around about 15 minutes”.
He also told MPs that users will be allowed to “switch off” the contact tracing under three conditions.
This could be that someone is wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), when they are working behind a Perspex screen, or if they are leaving their device in a locker at work.
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A reminder function can also be set to prompt people to turn the contact tracing back on.
Health minister Lord Bethell of Romford told committe members the new app is a “decentralised” one, adding that this would bring “consumer confidence”.
He said: “The consumer can rightly believe that their data is secure on the device, it is very heavily protected, and that they can carry this app in the full confidence that it is fully private, and held by them and them alone.”
The app is set to launch in England and Wales on September 24.
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