GREATER reassurance around privacy of the HSE’s Tracker App is critical, a Ballyvaughan GP has said. Dr Liam Glynn, who is a professor of General Practice at the University of Limerick (UL) made his remarks after a research project, in which he was involved, revealed that 40% of app users are unconvinced of its benefits in the fight against Covid-19.D
Dr Glynn, who is a member of the COVIGILANT research partnership between UL and NUI Galway, said the reopening of the economy next year would lead to an increase in risk of contracting the disease and said every tool was necessary in keeping levels of transmission to a minimum.
Almost four in ten users of the HSE’s Covid Tracker App reported they are unsure of its benefit in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus, researchers found. The COVIGILANT team has now called for the results of the survey to be considered when planning communications around the value of smartphone-assisted tracking and tracing.
“As we try to open up society and the economy further next year, increasing our social contacts will mean increased risk of Covid-19 transmission,” Dr Glynn said. “The app is potentially at its most powerful in crowded areas where people don’t necessarily know each other and where it can warn of anonymous contacts.”
The HSE Covid Tracker App was launched in early July and currently has over 1.3 million active users. More than 5,500 people who have tested positive for Covid-19 since July have been able to warn other contacts who have the app that they may have recently been exposed to the virus. This means that more than 10,000 app users were warned about a Covid-19 contact that they may potentially have been unaware of.
With public health restrictions relaxed in the run up to Christmas, the COVIGILANT research team said it is more important than ever to better understand the attitudes relating to the tracker app and the anonymised data it collects on your phone.
Of the close to 3,000 people who participated in the research, 93% reported that the Covid Tracker App is easy to use. 44% feel the app is helping our national effort against this virus while 38% are unsure if the app is helping in the national effort and 40% reported that they have not seen evidence that the app is helping our national effort against Covid-19.
“We feel ongoing public health messaging about the app and reassurance around the data security and privacy features will be vitally important if the Irish public are going to continue to use this app into the new year,” Dr Glynn added.
Dr Mike O’Callaghan, GP and UL Research Fellow said, “Contact tracing and asking people to reduce their social contacts is hugely important in reducing spread of the coronavirus. The Covid Tracker App is designed to strengthen our contact tracing system but a consistent message we are hearing from our survey is that many users of the app are yet to be convinced that it is helping.”
Dr Jane Walsh of NUI Galway, added, “As we need to use every tool available against this virus, we hope our research will highlight the need to inform the general public about the usefulness of the app. Simply put, the more people trust it and use it, the more contacts it will pick up and the more it can make a difference.”
The COVIGILANT team is still asking people to get in touch and share their feedback, if they are using the app.
“While we will ask people who are interested in participating for their permission to record their interview, their responses will be anonymised,” said Manzar Abbas, PhD Scholar at software research centre LERO at UL. “So if you are currently using, or have used the contact tracing app previously and you have some feedback we would like to hear it to inform ongoing app development.”
The research team is seeking people aged 18 or over to take part in their study. Participants will be asked to take part in a phone interview which should last 30-40 minutes.
Interested members of the public can email the research team at manzar.abbas@ul.ie.