People across England and Wales are being urged to download the NHS COVID-19 contact tracing app to help control the spread of Coronavirus.

The app launches today, after positive trials on the Isle of Wight, which participated in the original test in May, in the London Borough of Newham and among NHS volunteers.

It will be available to those aged 16 and over in multiple languages. It forms a central part of the NHS Test and Trace service in England and the NHS Wales Test, Trace, Protect programme – identifying contacts of those who have tested positive for Coronavirus.

The UK’s major mobile network operators, including Vodafone, Three, EE and O2, Sky and Virgin, have confirmed that all in-app activity will not come out of customers’ data allowance.

The contact tracing element of the app works by using low-energy Bluetooth to log the amount of time spent near other app users, and the distance between you, sending an alert if someone you have been close to later tests positive for COVID-19 – even if you don’t know each other.

The app will advise you to self-isolate if you have been in close contact with a confirmed case. It will also enable you to check symptoms, book a free test if needed and get your test results.

After a u-turn over the centralised operating model, the app has been designed with user privacy in mind, so it tracks the virus, not people. The system generates a random ID for an individual’s device, which can be exchanged between devices via Bluetooth - not GPS. These unique random IDs regenerate frequently to add an extra layer of security and preserve anonymity.

The app does not hold personal information such as names, addresses or dates of birth, and only requires the first half of a postcode to ensure local outbreaks can be managed. No personal data is shared with the government or the NHS.

Health and social care secretary Matt Hancock said: "We are at a tipping point in our efforts to control the spread of this virus - with infection rates rising we must use every tool at our disposal to prevent transmission, including the latest technology.

"We have worked extensively with tech companies, international partners, and privacy and medical experts - and learned from the trials - to develop an app that is secure, simple to use and will help keep our country safe."

From today, certain businesses in England are required by law to display NHS Test and Trace QR codes so customers with the NHS COVID-19 app can use them to check-in.

These QR codes will help businesses meet their legal requirement to log contact details and allow public health leads to send alerts based on whether people have checked in at venues. So far, more than 160,000 businesses have already downloaded QR codes. Venues in Wales that are legally required to collect and keep a record of visitors will still need to do so.

The NHS Test and Trace team behind the app has worked closely with tech companies including Google and Apple, scientists within the Alan Turing Institute and Oxford University, Zuhlke Engineering, medical experts, privacy groups, at-risk communities and teams in countries across the world using similar apps.

Dido Harding, executive chair of England’s NHS Test and Trace Programme, said: "The features of this app, including QR code check-in at venues, work alongside our traditional contact tracing service and will help us to reach more people quickly in their communities to prevent further spread of the virus."

In a joint statement, Apple and Google said: "We built the exposure notifications system to enable public health authorities in their efforts to develop apps to help reduce the spread of the virus while ensuring people can trust in the privacy-preserving design - we are committed to supporting the government’s effort to launch an app based on this technology."

As well as contact tracing, the app has a range of additional features that will help to reduce personal and public risk from COVID-19 as part of the wider testing and contact tracing service. These include alerts to let users know the level of Coronavirus risk in their postcode district; QR check-in for venues; a symptoms checker; a test booking system; and a timer feature to help count down that period and access will be provided to relevant advice.

The Scottish version of the app launched on 14 September, designed by software developers NearForm using the same technology as the Republic of Ireland and Northern Irish proximity tracing apps.

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