Science

Police given access to test & trace data

Test & trace data has been (on a case-by-case basis) provided to the police, to help ensure that those legally required to self-isolate are indeed doing so.

Sudarshan Sreeram

22 Oct 2020 — 1 min read

The effectiveness of contact tracing apps is starting to show, and it isn’t looking positive. Each week, the percentage of individuals notified about a confirmed positive contact has decreased, which is brings into question the accuracy of the test and trace system. This failure to reach notifications causes a risk of further transmission due to a lack of self-isolation. Further, it defeats the purpose of maintaining an automated contact tracing scheme in the first place.

To this end, test and trace information has been (on a case-by-case basis) provided to the police. The belief is that they would help ensure that those legally required to self-isolate are indeed doing so. Failure to meet this legal obligation may see an individual charged anywhere from £1000 to £10,000. Some suggest that this move to hand data over to the Police might discourage those looking to take a test, with MPs raising concerns over how police have access to the data while local councils do not.

Science

Issue 1752

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23rd Oct 2020

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