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  Technology   In Other news  18 Jun 2020  After dissing Google-Apple COVID app model, UK now embraces it

After dissing Google-Apple COVID app model, UK now embraces it

AP
Published : Jun 18, 2020, 9:58 pm IST
Updated : Jun 18, 2020, 9:58 pm IST

Earlier, the UK government had said the privacy controls that the app developed by the tech companies was unsuitable and ineffective.

The app framework developed jointly by Google and Apple relies on Bluetooth technology to alert users if they came into contact with a COVID-19 infected person.
 The app framework developed jointly by Google and Apple relies on Bluetooth technology to alert users if they came into contact with a COVID-19 infected person.

London: Britain’s government is scrapping its existing coronavirus tracing smartphone app and switching to a model based on technology supplied by Apple and Google, the BBC reports.

The government’s app is being trialled on the Isle of Wight, and was expected to be rolled out in the rest of the country later. But the program, previously hailed as a fundamental pillar of the UK response to the pandemic, has been delayed.

Apple and Google’s framework to build the app, though attractive to nearly two dozen countries, was not favoured by UK which said the technology was not particularly useful in contact tracing because it prioritises user privacy.

On Wednesday, the official responsible for the UK government app said it may not be ready until the winter and that it is not the “priority” at the moment.

The data gathered by the Apple-Google design is expected to be less centralised.

Tags: google, apple, coronavirus app