Protect Scotland
The Protect Scotland app from NHS Scotland’s Test and Protect is a free, mobile phone app designed to help us protect each other and reduce the spread of coronavirus.
The app will alert you if you have been in close contact with another app user who tests positive for coronavirus. And if you test positive, it can help in determining contacts that you may have otherwise missed while keeping your information private and anonymous.
Using the Protect Scotland app, along with sticking to current public health measures, will help us to stay safe when we meet up, socialise, work or travel.
Downloading and using Protect Scotland will never be a requirement. However, as we see the rate of infection start to rise, it is important that we all download and use the Protect Scotland app to help stop the spread of coronavirus. We know the more of us that do, the more effective it will be.
How the app helps Protect Scotland
The free Protect Scotland app is here to help keep Scotland safe from coronavirus, while protecting our privacy too.
Download the app for free at protect.scot and make sure to keep Bluetooth switched on.
The app works in the background, using minimal data to protect you, your friends and your family.
As you come into contact with other app users, your phones will automatically exchange encrypted codes.
These codes are completely random and only say how long you have been in contact with another app user and how far apart you were.
The codes do not record your identity or location, and are deleted after 14 days.
Should you test positive for coronavirus, you will be provided with a code to enter into the app.
It will then quickly and anonymously notify those you have had close contact with. Meaning anyone that you’ve been closer than 2 metres to for at least 15 minutes
And provide them with clear advice on what to do next.
This app uses tried and tested technology developed by Apple and Google that is designed to protect your privacy and data,
And is already working successfully in a number of countries across Europe.
It’s hard to keep track of all the people we may have had close contact with but it’s vital if we want to keep the virus under control.
The Protect Scotland app helps make connections you might have otherwise missed.
It allows us to alert people at risk far more quickly so that they can take steps to reduce the risk of infecting others.
The more of us using the app, the better it will work.
The Protect Scotland app is one of the ways we keep coronavirus under control, break the chains of transmission and protect ourselves and the progress we’ve made.
We can make it work if we work together.
Help protect Scotland by downloading the app then sharing this video to help spread the word, not the virus.
Why use the app?
The app will help us break the chains of infection, speeding up the process of identifying people at risk of catching coronavirus and reducing its ability to spread.
When you use the app:
- You will be alerted if you have been in close contact with another app user who has tested positive for coronavirus
- You can anonymously warn other app users whom you have been in close contact with, if you test positive for the virus
- If you travel to England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Jersey or Gibraltar the app will continue to work and exchange codes with anyone you come into close contact with in these locations. There is no need to download another app when visiting these locations
This helps with existing contact tracing efforts, slowing the spread of the virus, and making sure it stays at low, manageable levels.
The app does not hold personal information, know who you are, or know where you have been. It cannot identify you or track your movements.
By downloading the app today, we can all help protect ourselves, our families and Scotland against coronavirus.
How the app works
- Once you have installed and set up Protect Scotland, it will run in the background of your device. You can use your phone and other apps as normal
- Using Bluetooth, the app will exchange anonymous, encrypted, random codes with other mobile phones with the Protect Scotland app installed. You do not need to have a WiFi connection and the app uses a very small amount of your mobile phone data, but you do need to keep Bluetooth switched on
- When the app finds another user, it will record the contact, the distance between your phones and the length of time your phone was near theirs. This is all done anonymously
- If you test positive for coronavirus, you can choose to input the Test Code, provided by the contact tracer, into the app. This will automatically notify other app users that you have been in close contact with (within 2 metres for at least 15 minutes)
- When another app user tests positive, and has inputted a Test Code, the app will notify you and any others if it determines you may be at risk
- You may or may not still be contacted by a contact tracer. This depends on whether you have been identified to be at risk through traditional contact tracing methods
- It is your choice over whether you choose to download and use the app or not. You will never be asked to prove you have the app, and you should never be asked to show the status of the app to anyone else – that is entirely up to you
Help stop the virus. Download the app today.
By voluntarily choosing to use the Protect Scotland app, alongside existing public health and contact tracing measures, you can help to stop the spread of the virus in Scotland.
Help family members to download the app, encourage your colleagues to use it and share it with friends.
If we all play our part, we can all help protect ourselves, our families and Scotland against coronavirus.
