- The development of the app was given to a specific company. It was not sent out to tender. Now, you can argue that we don't have a lot of time and we needed it developed quickly, BUT... - The reported budget for the app was £250 MILLION... (Not sure on the veracity of that figure, but it's been widely reported. It may just be part of the deal between UK.gov and Palantir/Faculty.) - It is being developed by both Palantir (run by the right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel) and Faculty... - Faculty is an AI startup run by someone called Marc Warner... - Marc Warner's brother is Ben Warner... - Ben Warner was recruited to Downing Street by Dominic Cummings (if you don't who DC is, he's basically an unelected advisor to our inimitable dickwad, Boris Johnson)... - Ben Warner was instrumental in the Vote Leave campaign.
Further: - Dr Ian Levy is Technical Director of the National Cyber Security Centre. He put out a blog post pretty much saying, "Everything is fine. We won't grab your data, no-sireeeee, and we absolutely won't expand the remit of this app, until we absolutely feel the need to do exactly that". Within hours, NHSX said they'll expand the remit of the app where necessary. So-called "mission creep". - The app ONLY works for NHS England, so spending any time with someone from, say, Wales or Scotland, won't work because they won't be using the NHS England app; they'll be using the NHS Wales or NHS Scotland app. - The app will NOT work with the Apple/Google solution which means if you go abroad, neither your device nor anyone else's will match, so will record zero interactions.
So, no. I won't be downloading this app.
The Apple/Google solution would've been exactly what we needed, and it works across borders. Apple even provided the source code necessary to create a functioning app. Sadly, our government thinks it's the dog bollox when it comes to everything, so they've gone off on their own.
You wonder why the UK currently has the highest number of Covid-19 deaths in Europe? Because our government is pathetic. Our MPs are idiots. Our Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, said he wanted to test 100,000 people a day by the end of April. 30th April comes along and lo and behold we hit 122,000 tests! Oh, sorry, no, we hit 76,000 tests. The other 46,000 tests were actually just mailed out and hadn't actually been used. They did this to save his political career. In the days following the 30th April we tested 66,000 people then 56,000 people.
The UK is an f-ing joke.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a conspiracy theorist in the house! This is the kind of vitriolic fake news communists in the U.K. spout all the time these days. Not surprisingly the public voted for Brexit, destroyed their party in the recent general election, and why the government has the highest poll ratings and confidence ever.
We (in the UK) seem to be developing the same trait that I see in the US: we automatically assume that everything the government, civil service or any other authority does must be wrong/useless/vindictive. We all like to moan, it's therapeutic after all, but it's important to be level-headed about serious issues. Creating or spreading fake news is not sensible, particularly about this worldwide crisis.
So I agree with Seanj and I urge everyone to check so-called facts before repeating them. The problem with conspiracy theories is that they appeal with their apparent simplicity and the opportunity to say "You're naive, I know better than you". They are also impossible to disprove because conspiracy theorists simply reject all contrary evidence as being part of the conspiracy. So, hot news: the Tooth Fairy is real, all those parents are lying about where the coins came from and you try proving me wrong .
I think it's best not to bring Brexit into this though. I do believe it's real, however unlikely it seems, and I do believe we're stuck with it now.
Disinformation by left wing Remoaners. The app was actually developed by Pivotal, a subsidiary of VMware using algorithms Oxford University has been developing since January. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52551273
When you have nothing left of substance to say, fling pejorative labels at your opponent.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a conspiracy theorist in the house! This is the kind of vitriolic fake news communists in the U.K. spout all the time these days. Not surprisingly the public voted for Brexit, destroyed their party in the recent general election, and why the government has the highest poll ratings and confidence ever.
Actually, no. Not a conspiracy theorist at all. I read something that said it was developed by Palantir and Faculty. I have now read that the Palantir/Faculty deal was definitely £250m but it was for an AI lab for NHSX, so I apologise for the 'fake news'. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I'd stick to my guns, right?
The remainder of my points are valid. The app doesn't work across borders, and not even within the same country!
My points on the Palantir/Faculty deal are valid. Do we really want Peter Thiel and someone who used data to make us vote to leave the EU to create an AI lab for us? Not really, no.
Comments
So I agree with Seanj and I urge everyone to check so-called facts before repeating them. The problem with conspiracy theories is that they appeal with their apparent simplicity and the opportunity to say "You're naive, I know better than you". They are also impossible to disprove because conspiracy theorists simply reject all contrary evidence as being part of the conspiracy. So, hot news: the Tooth Fairy is real, all those parents are lying about where the coins came from and you try proving me wrong
I think it's best not to bring Brexit into this though. I do believe it's real, however unlikely it seems, and I do believe we're stuck with it now.
The remainder of my points are valid. The app doesn't work across borders, and not even within the same country!
My points on the Palantir/Faculty deal are valid. Do we really want Peter Thiel and someone who used data to make us vote to leave the EU to create an AI lab for us? Not really, no.