U.K. Covid-19 App Could Aggravate Inequalities, Advisers Warned

(Bloomberg) --

The U.K.’s contact-tracing app could exacerbate inequalities in Britain’s society, an ethics board warned ahead of a roll-out of the software.

A letter dated April 24, and since published online, highlighted data suggesting that 21% of British adults don’t use a smartphone, something essential for using the app.

The board, established to oversee the development of the app, also outlined a variety of areas, including accountability and possible data misuse, that it said the government should consider as it builds the app to ensure it’s done in an ethical way.

Britain, like governments around the world, is developing a voluntary mobile app that uses Bluetooth technology to trace possible infections of the coronavirus, alerting users when they may have been near someone infectious.

The U.K.’s National Health Service’ has been testing its own app on the Isle of Wight, ahead of a wider release to the rest of the country by mid-May. Only half the population have downloaded that app. A recent University of Oxford study said 80% of smartphone users need to participate in the program for it to be effective, the equivalent of 56% of the general population.

But the board also warned that an app would not be enough. It said an increase in manual tracing -- where authorities interview those infected with the virus to find out about others they may have passed the illness on to -- would be a “crucial additional measure” and warned against scenarios where the app would be required to be used by individuals wishing to take public transport or return to work.

In a letter responding to the board, also published online, the U.K. government said it was committed to “upholding the highest ethical standards in relation to the NHS Covid-19 app.” It said use of the app would be voluntary and used as part of a wider package of measures, with the sole purpose of responding to the pandemic.

U.K. authorities say the tools will help track and contain any resurgent outbreaks of the virus once lockdown measures lift but the U.K.’s app has faced criticism from its inception because privacy experts say its method gathers too much information about users.

In an initial technical analysis of the app, Privacy International experts found code that could allow authorities access to a user’s detailed location data, despite the NHS previously saying it was unable to do so.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.