Irish Covid Tracker App launched

[Camroc2]

So, Who's going to get the app ?

Anyone any GDPR doubts ?

https://covidtracker.gov.ie/

[CM11]

Got it and not concerned about private data, no. You do enter your phone number, optionally, so the HSE can contact you if needs be so that was a slight concern but not a big one.

[CM11]

Incidentally, it's approved by the UK and Ireland. Is that for an all island approach or have we teamed up with the UK and are using the same app with different localisation?

[Longshanks]

It will be interesting to see the take up, and whether it actually does what is supposed to. UK gov are saying iPhone is crap for working out distance with Bluetooth, Android works better.

[Longshanks]

Incidentally, it's approved by the UK and Ireland. Is that for an all island approach or have we teamed up with the UK and are using the same app with different localisation?

no

[CM11]

It will be interesting to see the take up, and whether it actually does what is supposed to. UK gov are saying iPhone is crap for working out distance with Bluetooth, Android works better.

App is claiming 100k downloads already.

Have to be over 16 to use it (digital age of consent, I guess). Although, does that just mean a parent has to install it on a kids phone?

[Hellraiser]

I've downloaded it out of professional necessity.

[iarmhí]

Downloaded it. Quite impressed with it.

[Yeeb]

Is it a link to the words ‘less than the uk , so take that Boris you fat cont’ ?

[Saint]

It will be interesting to see the take up, and whether it actually does what is supposed to. UK gov are saying iPhone is crap for working out distance with Bluetooth, Android works better.

App is claiming 100k downloads already.

Have to be over 16 to use it (digital age of consent, I guess). Although, does that just mean a parent has to install it on a kids phone?

No idea, but the reckoning is that you need 60%+ population coverage for these apps to generate useful info. So, population of Ireland is what, 5million-ish? Around 75% will be over 16, so that leaves around 4.25 million as your target "market". 60% of that number means 2.5 million not just downloading it but keeping it.

It will be impressive if Ireland get that far. No country in the world has got close to 60% yet

[iarmhí]

It will be interesting to see the take up, and whether it actually does what is supposed to. UK gov are saying iPhone is crap for working out distance with Bluetooth, Android works better.

App is claiming 100k downloads already.

Have to be over 16 to use it (digital age of consent, I guess). Although, does that just mean a parent has to install it on a kids phone?

No idea, but the reckoning is that you need 60%+ population coverage for these apps to generate useful info. So, population of Ireland is what, 5million-ish? Around 75% will be over 16, so that leaves around 4.25 million as your target "market". 60% of that number means 2.5 million not just downloading it but keeping it.

It will be impressive if Ireland get that far. No country in the world has got close to 60% yet

Don't think we'll get to 60% either

[CM11]

It will be interesting to see the take up, and whether it actually does what is supposed to. UK gov are saying iPhone is crap for working out distance with Bluetooth, Android works better.

App is claiming 100k downloads already.

Have to be over 16 to use it (digital age of consent, I guess). Although, does that just mean a parent has to install it on a kids phone?

No idea, but the reckoning is that you need 60%+ population coverage for these apps to generate useful info. So, population of Ireland is what, 5million-ish? Around 75% will be over 16, so that leaves around 4.25 million as your target "market". 60% of that number means 2.5 million not just downloading it but keeping it.

It will be impressive if Ireland get that far. No country in the world has got close to 60% yet

There'll be a decent amount of the population whose movements aren't so wide that an app will make a huge difference. If you got most 16-50 year olds that would go a long way.

[Saint]

App is claiming 100k downloads already.

Have to be over 16 to use it (digital age of consent, I guess). Although, does that just mean a parent has to install it on a kids phone?

No idea, but the reckoning is that you need 60%+ population coverage for these apps to generate useful info. So, population of Ireland is what, 5million-ish? Around 75% will be over 16, so that leaves around 4.25 million as your target "market". 60% of that number means 2.5 million not just downloading it but keeping it.

It will be impressive if Ireland get that far. No country in the world has got close to 60% yet

There'll be a decent amount of the population whose movements aren't so wide that an app will make a huge difference. If you got most 16-50 year olds that would go a long way.

That's more or less the same kind of number. It;s a huge ask, but at the same time, you could almost ignore the rural areas. if you got high coverage in Dublin, Limerick, Cork etc that might be enough

[The sun god]

It will be interesting to see the take up, and whether it actually does what is supposed to. UK gov are saying iPhone is crap for working out distance with Bluetooth, Android works better.

App is claiming 100k downloads already.

Have to be over 16 to use it (digital age of consent, I guess). Although, does that just mean a parent has to install it on a kids phone?

Almost 200K now....

[CM11]

Saint, possibly.

TSG, that's check ins. Over 300k downloads.

[Longshanks]

Of course it will be great if 60% download, but they won't. It still has some benefit if you have an effective track and trace system in place.
What's the situation in Ireland?
UK tracing around 70% of contacts of positive cases, which is supposed to improve as the infection numbers decrease

[Camroc2]

Of course it will be great if 60% download, but they won't. It still has some benefit if you have an effective track and trace system in place.
What's the situation in Ireland?
UK tracing around 70% of contacts of positive cases, which is supposed to improve as the infection numbers decrease

Daily new cases have been around 5 - 15 for the last number of weeks here, so manual track and trace has been working. The app is seen as an additional help to manual track and trace rather than taking a lead. The hope is that there will be a significant uptake of the app before any "second wave" resurgence of the virus, when the app will be a real help in controlling spread of the virus and protecting ICU beds.

[Saint]

OK - so the reason it's approved for UK & Ireland is that it will be supported in NI, and is also the basis of what's being used in Gibraltar

[CM11]

OK - so the reason it's approved for UK & Ireland is that it will be supported in NI, and is also the basis of what's being used in Gibraltar

Don't like this thumbup! Anyway, makes sense to have an all island app.

[Lazy couch potato]

So what happens if you get a close contact but asymptotic ... You get a text (and/or adv to isolate ) Or is it purely for the professionals to trace back when a positive test occurs.

Like it’s all well and good knowing who has it but unless you remove them from circulation you’ve no hope. This was grand during lockdown especially with his levels of fear. Now people are becoming blasé

[CM11]

So what happens if you get a close contact but asymptotic ... You get a text (and/or adv to isolate ) Or is it purely for the professionals to trace back when a positive test occurs.

Like it’s all well and good knowing who has it but unless you remove them from circulation you’ve no hope. This was grand during lockdown especially with his levels of fear. Now people are becoming blasé

Close contacts are tested ASAP and then again a week later. I think you are advised to restrict movements and watch symptoms although can't be sure.

[Camroc2]

500K downloads reported now.

[lilyw]

a close contact but asymptotic .

Now you're just going on a tangent!

[EnergiseR]

Need to look into it further. As a rule government departments are poor with your personal info. Look at the number of fines issued so far.

[CM11]

Need to look into it further. As a rule government departments are poor with your personal info. Look at the number of fines issued so far.

There is no personal info for them to mess up with (unless you enter your phone number, which is optional and not necessary at all).

[EnergiseR]

I'll have a look. I am not a weirdo about this tuff and missus has signed up just want to know exactly what it is. We have already opened ourselves up so completely it probably makes fück all difference

[ASMO]

I'll have a look. I am not a weirdo about this tuff and missus has signed up just want to know exactly what it is. We have already opened ourselves up so completely it probably makes fück all difference

They are gonna get your goat porn history

[EnergiseR]

As long as they only see that I am grand

[Camroc2]

725k downloaded now. That's 15% of the population on day 1.

[Longshanks]

I can't remember the details but I assume the Irish system is based on the decentralized Google Apple app?
I hope it works and makes the England think about adopting this system too. We were promised a world beating centralized system, but to nobody's surprise they are struggling to get it right and have put it on the back burner.
Might be released in autumn, but I won't hold my breath.

[Camroc2]

I can't remember the details but I assume the Irish system is based on the decentralized Google Apple app?
I hope it works and makes the England think about adopting this system too. We were promised a world beating centralized system, but to nobody's surprise they are struggling to get it right and have put it on the back burner.
Might be released in autumn, but I won't hold my breath.

Yes it is, with Irish front and back ends bolted on. NI and Gib are taking the same app, and Wales are also reported to be interested.

[Saint]

I can't remember the details but I assume the Irish system is based on the decentralized Google Apple app?
I hope it works and makes the England think about adopting this system too. We were promised a world beating centralized system, but to nobody's surprise they are struggling to get it right and have put it on the back burner.
Might be released in autumn, but I won't hold my breath.

France have released a centralised app already. NHSX have both versions of the app built now and ready to go but are unhappy with both (I've seen a live demo over VC of the Apple version). The belief is that the public at large simply won't accept the Bluetooth inaccuracy.

[Longshanks]

I can't remember the details but I assume the Irish system is based on the decentralized Google Apple app?
I hope it works and makes the England think about adopting this system too. We were promised a world beating centralized system, but to nobody's surprise they are struggling to get it right and have put it on the back burner.
Might be released in autumn, but I won't hold my breath.

France have released a centralised app already. NHSX have both versions of the app built now and ready to go but are unhappy with both (I've seen a live demo over VC of the Apple version). The belief is that the public at large simply won't accept the Bluetooth inaccuracy.

I said earlier, they suggested iPhone is the worst. Watch the Irish and see what happens with this

[Saint]

I can't remember the details but I assume the Irish system is based on the decentralized Google Apple app?
I hope it works and makes the England think about adopting this system too. We were promised a world beating centralized system, but to nobody's surprise they are struggling to get it right and have put it on the back burner.
Might be released in autumn, but I won't hold my breath.

France have released a centralised app already. NHSX have both versions of the app built now and ready to go but are unhappy with both (I've seen a live demo over VC of the Apple version). The belief is that the public at large simply won't accept the Bluetooth inaccuracy.

I said earlier, they suggested iPhone is the worst. Watch the Irish and see what happens with this

At this stage it's literally irrelevant. The only thing that would change the decision would be seeing a 60%+ uptake with complete acceptance of the results even uf they don't make sense.

Germany has barely reached 25% coverage. The only country that has made an app work is South Korea- and they're not using Bluetooth, they're doing a mass data correlation exercise that amounts to state monitoring- which wouldn't be accepted in Western Europe

[Zig]

How does the traffic function on Google maps work if tracking people is not acceptable?

[Saint]

How does the traffic function on Google maps work if tracking people is not acceptable?

Not desperately accurate, and massively anonymised.

[fishfoodie]

How does the traffic function on Google maps work if tracking people is not acceptable?

I seem to remember that at least initially, google used to correlate all the wifi network names sniffed during the Street view photography sweeps with street locations, & that along with some GPS info, enabled a fairly decent location estimate. They used WiFi first, as most people had that turned on always, while GPS was a lot less used.

[Camroc2]

Over a million downloads now, which is over 20% of the population in two days.

I expect the next surge will be at the weekend, when children/grandchildren will download it for the older cohort of our population.

[Camroc2]

The story of the development of the Irish tracker app for those interested.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/tec ... -1.4303509

[Camroc2]

Irish Health Authorities have donated the the source code of the Irish tracing app to the Linux Foundation public health initiative, so that other countries may use it to build their own apps.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/hea ... -1.4308955

It might help the Brits get on with developing their own app.