In major u-turn, UK agrees to adopt Apple-Google contact-tracing API
In a similar move to Germany, the UK has now decided to embrace the contact-tracing solution put forward by Apple and Google called the Exposure Notification API to track future outbreaks of the coronavirus. This means the UK will follow the decentralised model, where user data will not be shared with a centralised server.
This will likely come as a relief to Ireland’s ongoing efforts to develop its own app based on the Apple-Google API, as concerns were raised that its app would not work in sync with the UK’s.
According to the BBC , this comes after former Apple executive Stephen Thompson agreed to take over the contact-tracing app project for the UK, with the Exposure Notification API seen as offering greater user privacy.
While the UK government his imminently set to announce the u-turn, it’s understood that the interface of the app will be identical to the one using the centralised model. The NHS has been testing both its own centralised app and the Exposure Notification API.
‘Heavily and unnecessarily delayed move’
The centralised model underwent trials on the Isle of Wight, but showed that it was poorly recognised between iPhones. One of the reasons why Germany decided to go with the Apple-Google solution is that its own centralised app would have required iPhones to have the app unlocked and running in the foreground, which would be a drain on an iPhone user’s battery.
When Apple said it was unwilling to let this happen, German leaders said there was no choice but to follow the approach proposed by Apple and Google.
However, in testing with Exposure Notification API, the ability for iPhones to recognise each other was offset by its inability to determine distance accurately. In some instances, an app using the API couldn’t differentiate between someone one metre away or three metres away. Such difficulties were also seen in research by a team from Trinity College Dublin.
Dr Michael Veale of the DP3T group that is promoting the decentralised model welcomed the UK’s decision, despite being a “heavily and unnecessarily delayed move”.
“The Google-Apple system in a way is home-grown: originating with research at a large consortium of universities led by Switzerland and including UCL in the UK,” he said.
“The UK has no end of options and no reasonable excuse to not get the app out quickly now.”
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