Earlier this year, the PM promised of a fully operational “world beating” track & trace app by 1 June
It was one of the govt's much touted 5 conditions to easing lockdown
Four months late, comes an app which appears only to be able to process tests that have been done by Serco.
If this “NHS” test & trace app, run by a private firm, doesn’t accept tests done by the NHS only by an outsourced private firm, this need to be changed
Like testing, an app is crucial
Germany introduced their’ on 15 June & it had 12m downloads in a week.
For months, the govt attempted to downplay the importance of the App.
It went from being “an essential component” in tackling #COVID19 to being “a cherry on the top of Dido’s cake”!
This was @MattHancock on 5 June
He doesn’t seem terribly concerned.
When asked by journalists if they still regarded the App as “essential”, Ministers wouldn’t give an answer
When asked by journalists where the App was, Ministers (like @Helen_Whately) changed the subject
So most journalists gave up asking the questions
On 6 June, #Marr asked Hancock what happened to the App “that was supposed to be here 3 weeks ago”
@AndrewMarr9: When will it be ready?
@MattHancock: It will come in
AM: Are you saying that the App is no longer essential?
MH: I’m saying it will help. It will be an advantage.
On 28 May, @DominicRaab was asked how lockdown can be eased without an App?
“We’re giving a roadmap with maximum conditionality to make sure both in terms of the measures we've taken at Step 1 & any subsequent measures we're confident that we can take further sure-footed steps.”
“No problem, guv! We can do you a world-beating, world-class tracing app ready by the 1st June, give or take 4 months.”
Overseeing the NHS’s digital platform are #PeterThiel’s #Palantir & Cummings’ friends’ #FacultyAI: companies that both have links to #CambridgeAnalytica.
Now if you’ve not heard of #Palantir, I suggest you pour yourself a stiff drink, find a comfy chair & read this thread 👇
This week, author @naomirwolf described it as “one of the most important threads of the era”(!)
Have a read & make up your own mind.
For those of you who struggle with labyrinthine threads stretching back 6 months, one of our top @Under_Covid investigators @TomBadham1 has put the #Palantir #FacultyAI threads up.
Palantir are NOT just running the NHS & the US’s HHS digital platforms...
undercovid.org/articles/palan…
#Palantir already work with scores of countries around the world on secretive surveillance & data mining contracts for law enforcement & counter-terror agencies.
But now they are working with govts on health data.
There are grave potential dangers...
undercovid.org/articles/palan…
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