NHS which released a COVID 19 tracking app in early May this year for testing purposes is back in news for all wrong reasons. More than 50% of users using the NSHX COVID 19 Tracking app say that they do not trust the fact that the government of the UK will keep the data safe from hackers and state-funded snooping eyes.
Technically, NHS released the app to slow down the spread of the Coronavirus by tracking down COVID 19 contacts and its objective is to stop the spread of the virus warning the people as soon as they come into the vicinity of the people who are already exposed to the virus.
According to a study conducted by Censuswide on behalf of Anomali- a Cybersecurity solutions provider, most of the respondents who participated in the survey say that cybercriminals might use the app to send smishing messages and phishing emails. And some say that the app might be used by governments for other purposes such as keeping a track of a user and his/her whereabouts. Moreover, there is no guaranty that the app loaded phone is carried by the infected person for sure- just in case to alert those who are free from the virus.
So, currently, the NHSX app is riddled with a lot of dubiety even before its release.
Note- The NHSX app is a spinoff version of the Indian COVID 19 tracking app named ‘Aarogya Setu’ which is a mixed bag version of various COVID 19 tracking apps prevailing in South Korea. The app was tested initially on the populace of Isle of Wight and will be launched on a National note by this month-end- provided all goes as per the plan of the Boris Johnson government.
