The UK government has begun a trial of its new, revamped COVID-19 contact-tracing app for England, after its previous attempt failed to work as required and raised concerns over privacy.
Unlike the previous app, the new version stores information about who each user has come into contact with on their phone using a framework provided by Apple and Google, instead of in a centralised database. If a user reports symptoms of COVID-19, the app will alert their recent contacts that they should self-isolate in case they have the disease too.
This may go some way towards addressing legitimate privacy concerns. But evidence from other countries suggests getting enough people to download and use the app to significantly contribute to England’s contact-tracing efforts will still be a challenge.