Harvey Tindall
4aa94ef95b
might be useful for Australia, as they released an app using their own tech so comparisons could be made to nhsx tech.
2.2 KiB
2.2 KiB
Original NHSx app vs Post-may Apple/Google API-based app
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NHSx app builds a database of significant contacts (<2 metres for at least 15 mins) who can be alerted if the user reports symptoms (presumably a positive test, too) (from independent)
- Users could be notified of false positive if this was found out later
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NHSx uses a centralised model (FIXME: Find decent source and explanation!)
- A centralised server figures out the matching process
- Phone has a unique key thats sent to other devices that come in contact
- If the user logs positive, device tells server their key is positive
- Other device asks NHS server if any device keys it's received are positive (here, the server checks for matches)
- If the key is found to have logged positive, the user is alerted
- The server knowing if your key has come into contact with someone could pose a risk of tracking by gov/hackers
- Could make tracking outbreaks on a national scale easier
- App connected to NHS account
- Battery-saving features on phones (especially iPhones) could pose a challenge to keeping the service running 24/7 on the device
- Even if not, Apple claimed NHSx solution would be less power-efficient
- A centralised server figures out the matching process
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Apple/Google uses a semi-decentralized model (good ass diagram here)
- Uses BLE to reduce power usage
- No NHS account, name or details need to be given
- When two phones meet, a unique key is created and exhanged between them
- When one logs a positive, the user agrees to upload the key to a central database
- All other phones regularly download the central database, and then check (matches are searched for on-device) for any keys they have received from other devices
- If the key is in the db, the user is alerted, but the central server does not know about the match.
Similar between the two
- Risk of high false-positives/Self-certification being used maliciously
- This was more of a concern when the apps were in development, as conveninent testing (LFD) was not easily available so self-cert was the most likely way to log "positive" on the app