Guidance

[Withdrawn] NHS COVID-19 app: privacy information (easy read)

Updated 28 March 2023

This guidance was withdrawn on

The NHS COVID-19 app closed down on 27 April 2023, so this content is out of date.

The app was managed by the UK Health Security Agency, which is an executive agency sponsored by the Department of Health and Social Care. From 27 April 2023, the app is no longer available and is no longer collecting data or providing a service to app users. This document broadly reflects the service provided by the app during its later stages.

Your data and privacy now the app has closed down

The data collected by the app, which cannot identify app users, will be held in line with the retention period set out in the Privacy Notice for the NHS COVID-19 app.

Find out why the app has closed down and where to find the latest guidance.

Tynnwyd y cyhoeddiad hwn yn ôl ar 27 Ebrill 2023

Caeodd ap COVID-19 y GIG ar 27 Ebrill 2023 felly nid yw’r cynnwys hwn bellach yn gyfredol.

Rheolwyd yr ap gan Asiantaeth Diogelwch Iechyd y DU, sy’n asiantaeth weithredol a noddir gan yr Adran Iechyd a Gofal Cymdeithasol.  O 27 Ebrill 2023, nid yw yr ap ar gael bellach ac nid yw yn casglu data na yn darparu gwasanaeth i ddefnyddwyr apiau bellach. Mae’r ddogfen hon yn adlewyrchu’n fras y gwasanaeth a ddarperir gan yr ap yn ystod ei gamau diweddarach.

Eich data a’ch preifatrwydd nawr mae’r ap wedi cau

Bydd y data a gesglir gan yr ap, na all adnabod defnyddwyr yr ap, yn cael ei gadw yn unol â’r cyfnod cadw a nodir yn yr Hysbysiad Preifatrwydd ar gyfer ap COVID-19 y GIG.

Darganfyddwch pam mae’r ap wedi cau a ble i ddod o hyd i’r canllawiau diweddaraf.

Applies to England and Wales

© Crown copyright 2023

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-covid-19-app-privacy-information/nhs-covid-19-app-privacy-notice-easy-read

Introduction

The UK government has made an app for the NHS in England and Wales.

An app is a programme that you have on your phone to help you do something.

The NHS COVID-19 app will help to control the spread of coronavirus.

Coronavirus is an illness that is spreading around the world.

It affects your lungs and breathing.

This document tells you privacy information about the app.

It explains:

  • how the app keeps you safe

  • how the app works

  • what information the app uses

  • your rights

The NHS COVID-19 app

How the app keeps you safe

If a test shows you have coronavirus, you will receive advice from the app.

You will be asked to stay indoors and away from people. The app will tell you for how long.

If you have any questions, please ask for help and call NHS 111.

When the test shows you have coronavirus, the app can alert other people using the app.

This helps keep everybody safe.

The app can alert other people without telling them who you are.

The app will tell you if you have been close to someone with coronavirus.

The app will give you advice about what to do. You may be asked to stay indoors and away from people or to take a test.

If you have any questions, please ask for help and call NHS 111.

Why you should use the app

At the moment, a person who catches coronavirus has to speak to the NHS and tell them about anyone they have been close to recently.

This means we only find out about the people you remember and already know.

It doesn’t include other people you’ve been close to that you don’t know.

The app

The app can do this automatically. It can find more of the people you’ve been close to and let them know.

The app does not use your personal information.

No one will know who you are or where you are. No one will know your name or address.

How it works

The app works by using Bluetooth on your phone as you move around.

Bluetooth is a way for phones or computers to connect to each other without wires.

Your phone will recognise other people’s phones that use the app when you are close to them.

Your phones will send a small piece of information as a code to each other.

This will stay on your phone for several days. Then it will be deleted.

Using the app and sharing your data with us helps keep everyone healthy.

If you or another person using the app catches coronavirus, the app can use the codes that your phones shared to let you both know.

You can tell the app if you have had the vaccine or are under 18.

You will then be told what to do to keep yourself and other people safe.

The app can alert other people without telling them who you are.

Other ways the app can help you

You can also use the app to:

  • find out if there are lots of people catching coronavirus in your area

  • check if you might have coronavirus, if you feel unwell

  • order a test

  • find out how long you have left to stay indoors if you have been asked to stay away from other people

  • if you are asked to stay away from people, you may be able to get paid for staying indoors. The app will take you to a website to see if you can

  • check in to places so you can receive advice

Using the app

Getting started

When you first open the app it will ask you to:

  • turn on your Bluetooth. You must have Bluetooth switched on for the app to work

  • enter the first part of your postcode and select your local authority. This will tell us which part of the country you are in. It does not tell us your address

  • allow the app to send you notifications. Notifications are when the app sends you important messages

When you have the app

We want you to:

  • keep the app switched on

  • take your phone with you everywhere you go

  • do everything the app advises you to do

  • get a test quickly if the app tells you to

  • stay indoors and away from people if the app advises you to. If you have any questions, please ask for help and call NHS 111

  • tell the app how you are feeling, so the app can check if you might have coronavirus

The app gives the NHS information to check that it is working.

The app tells the NHS how the app is working and if the app is being helpful.

No one will know the information has come from you.

The information will help us to understand more about coronavirus and other illnesses in the future.

We may keep this information for several years.

Your rights

The law says that you have the right to see any information that is being kept about you.

The only information that says who you are will be kept on your phone.

Information that says who you are will not go to other people’s phones or to the government.

The app will let you see what information it has about you. You can check that it is right.

If you decide you no longer want to use the app, you can delete it at any time.

This will delete all the information the app holds on your phone including places you’ve checked in to.

If you delete the app, you will not receive any alerts or advice from the app.

If you are unhappy with how the app uses information you can email our Data Protection Officer: data_protection@dhsc.gov.uk.

For more information

If you have questions

You can contact NHS 111 at any time.

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