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The UK may be rethinking its decision to shun Apple <\/a> and Google’s API for its national coronavirus contacts tracing app, according to the Financial Times<\/a>, which reported yesterday that the government is paying an IT supplier to investigate whether it can integrate the tech giants’ approach after all.<\/p>\n As we’ve reported before<\/a> coronavirus contacts tracing apps are a new technology which aims to repurpose smartphones’ Bluetooth signals and device proximity to try to estimate individuals’ infection risk.<\/p>\n The UK’s forthcoming NHS COVID-19 app<\/a> has faced controversy because it’s being designed to use a centralized app architecture. This means developers are having to come up with workarounds for platform limitations on background access to Bluetooth as the Apple-Google cross-platform API only works with decentralized systems.<\/p>\n The choice of a centralized app architecture has also raised concerns about the impact of such an unprecedented state data grab on citizens’ privacy and human rights, and the risk of state ‘mission creep<\/a>‘.<\/p>\n The UK also looks increasingly isolated in its choice in Europe after the German government opted to switch to a decentralized model<\/a>, joining several other European countries that have said they will opt for a p2p approach, including Estonia, Ireland and Switzerland.<\/p>\n France<\/a> remains the other major backer of a centralized system for its forthcoming coronavirus contacts tracing app n the region.<\/p>\n Apple and Google, <\/a> meanwhile, are collaborating on a so-called “exposure notification” API<\/a> for national coronavirus contacts tracing apps. The API <\/a> is slated to launch this month and is designed to remove restrictions that could interfere with how contact events are logged. However it’s only available for apps that don’t hold users’ personal data on central servers and prohibits location tracking, with the pair emphasizing that their system is designed to put privacy at the core.<\/p>\n Yesterday the FT<\/a> reported that NHSX, the digital transformation branch of UK’s National Health Service, has awarded a £3.8M contract to the London office of Zuhlke Engineering, a Switzerland-based IT development firm which was involved in developing the initial version of the NHS COVID-19 app.<\/p>\n The contract includes a requirement to “investigate the complexity, performance and feasibility of implementing native Apple and Google contact tracing APIs within the existing proximity mobile application and platform”, per the newspaper’s report.<\/p>\n The work is also described as a “two week timeboxed technical spike”, which the FT suggests means it’s still at a preliminary phase — thought it also notes the contract includes a deadline of mid-May.<\/p>\n The contracted work was due to begin yesterday, per the report.<\/p>\n We’ve reached out to Zuhlke for comment. Its website<\/a> describes the company as “a strong solutions partner” that’s focused on projects related to digital product delivery; cloud migration; scaling digital platforms; and the Internet of Things.<\/p>\n We also put questions arising from the FT report to NHSX.<\/p>\n At the time of writing the unit had not responded but yesterday a spokesperson told the newspaper: “We’ve been working with Apple and Google throughout the app’s development and it’s quite right and normal to continue to refine the app.”<\/p>\n The specific technical issue that appears to be causing concern relates to a workaround the developers have devised to try to circumvent platform limitations on Bluetooth that’s intended to wake up phones when the app itself is not being actively used in order that the proximity handshakes can still be carried out (and contacts events properly logged).<\/p>\n Thing is, if any of the devices fail to wake up and emit their identifiers so other nearby devices can log their presence there will be gaps in the data. Which, in plainer language, means the app might miss some close encounters between users — and therefore fail to notify some people of potential infection risk.<\/p>\n Recent reports have suggested<\/a> the NHSX workaround has a particular problem with iPhones not being able to wake up other iPhones. And while Google’s Android OS is the more dominant platform in the UK (running on circa ~60% of smartphones, per Kantar<\/a>) there will still be plenty of instances of two or more iPhone users passing near each other. So if their apps fail to wake up they won’t exchange data and those encounters won’t be logged.<\/p>\n On this, the FT quotes one person familiar with the NHS testing process who told it the app was able to work in the background in most cases, except when two iPhones were locked and left unused for around 30 minutes, and without any Android <\/a> devices coming within 60m of the devices. The source also told it that bringing an Android device running the app close to the iPhone would “wake up” its Bluetooth connection.<\/p>\n Clearly, the government having to tell everyone in the UK to use an Android smartphone not an iPhone wouldn’t be a particularly palatable political message.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n
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