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Privacy or freedom: the app that could open up the world again
Countries such as South Korea have used contact-tracing apps to help contain Covid-19. But will the British government be able to implement the approach without compromising the rights of citizens, ask ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and JOEL HELLEWELL

TRANSPORT Secretary Grant Shapps has revealed that the Isle of Wight is to be the initial testing ground for the new NHS Covid-19 contact tracing smartphone application.

The app developed by government department NHSX (responsible for co-ordinating digital developments within the NHS) will alert users if they have been in contact with a confirmed coronavirus case.

The government’s hope is that this will allow the country to emerge from full lockdown, relying on this app to maintain a sufficiently low level of transmission until a vaccine can be rolled out.

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