Tech giant Apple has claimed that it was unaware that the UK was working on a "hybrid" version of the NHS coronavirus contact-tracing app using tech it developed with Google.
Aside from lacking knowledge about the UK government's plans with the hybrid contact-tracing app being developed with Google, Apple also said it was not aware of an issue regarding distance-measuring, which was mentioned by Health Secretary Matt Hancock in a daily briefing on Thursday.
According to Apple, it was "difficult to understand" the claims. This was despite the UK government's claim that it had "worked closely with Apple and Google".
Distance measuring issue
On Thursday, Hancock said: "We’ve agreed to join forces with Google and Apple, to bring the best bits of both systems together."
“We found that our app works well on Android devices, but Apple software prevents iPhones being used effectively for contact-tracing unless you’re using Apple’s own technology,” he said.
NHSX, the innovation department of the National Health Service, initially planned to develop its own app without the assistance of Apple and Google.
However, after the UK started developing its app, Apple and Google unveiled their own product. Since the announcement, the UK has been developing two versions of the app, Hancock revealed.
"As it stands, our app won’t work because Apple won’t change their system,” Hancock noted. “But it can measure distance, and their app can’t measure distance well enough to a standard that we are satisfied with."
However, Apple said: "It is difficult to understand what these claims are as they haven't spoken to us." The firm also mentioned that the technology was already either currently in use or intended for use in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Ireland.
The tech giant expressed surprise over the news that the UK was working on a new version of the contact-tracing app which incorporated the Apple-Google software tool.
Apple explained: "We don't know what they mean by this hybrid model. They haven't spoken to us about it."
Apple's decision
While both Apple and Google haven't developed an app, the companies created a software tool which enables contact-tracing apps to work more smoothly with both iPhones and Android devices, but which does not store any data centrally.
However, the government said it wanted store the data because it would be useful for scientists tracking the spread of Covid-19.
According to Dr. David Bonsall of Oxford University, an adviser to the NHS app developers, Apple decided not to support the UK's original model.
Bonsall explained: "Ultimately, a decision was taken by Apple to not support the centralized system that had been in development by the UK from March, and six weeks before they announced their own system under a decentralized model."
"And that has got to be considered in our reflection on the situation that the UK now faces," he added.
How does contact tracing work?
Contact-tracing apps function when two individuals have been in close proximity to one another for a long time. If someone has the virus, the app will send an alert to people they have been in close contact with.
Apple and Google’s platform aims to provide citizens more privacy but it does not give epidemiologists the entire data.
Germany, Italy and Denmark have abandoned their so-called “centralized” approach that processes data on a state-controlled server. They welcome Apple and Google’s “dencentralized” approach, where data is analyzed on the handset itself, thereby reducing privacy issues.
