My Lords, there is no particular target where the app becomes relevant or non-relevant. Some 14 million downloads to date is a remarkable number and the app is already proving effective, with a substantial number of people having received notifications from the proximity device and who are now abiding by isolation measures. We have a massive marketing campaign that has been seen by 97% of the population and ongoing activity, particularly among hard-to-reach communities and the young, to support the downloading and use of the app.

NHSX recognises that users must have trust and confidence in the way personal data is collected by the app and subsequently used by epidemiologists to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. We have prioritised security and privacy in all stages of the app’s development and have drawn on expertise from across Government and industry to review our app designs. Any user data collected centrally by the National Health Service will be held to the highest security standards. In addition to the continual monitoring, review and oversight undertaken by the NHS we have consulted with the National Cyber Security Centre to review and supplement our processes. Companies working for the NHS will be bound by data processing agreements that specify how the data must be secured, used, and destroyed. For an explanation of how the risk scoring algorithm works we have published an explanation on the FAQ page of the NHS COVID-19 website.

Improving mobile coverage in rural areas is a priority for the Government, and we want the UK to have high-quality mobile coverage where people live, work and travel. We are committed to extending geographic mobile coverage to 95% of the UK, as well as providing an uninterrupted mobile signal on all major roads, and we are considering all of the options available to facilitate this.

The Government is working closely with the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to consider their proposal for a Shared Rural Network. Their proposal is still being developed and my department looks forward to hearing more about the industry’s potential solution to the issue of rural mobile coverage.

My department also welcomes the current proposals set out in Ofcom’s consultation on awarding the 700 MHz and 3.6-3.8 GHz spectrum bands to improve coverage, which aims to deliver two MNOs to 90% geographic mobile coverage.