Privacy Policy - Easy Read
Contents
- What is this?
- If you need help
- How does the app work?
- Who are we?
- What information about me does the app use?
- Data about you when you first start to use the app
- Is the app legal?
- Who do we share your information with?
- How long do we keep your information?
- How do we look after your information?
- Does my personal information stay in the UK?
- What rights do I have about my personal information and how to use those rights?
- What about changes to this document?
- Glossary
What is this?
This document explains what personal information the Protect Scotland COVID-19 contact tracing app collects and how the app uses your personal information.
If you want to read the full privacy notice for the app, this is available here: https://protect.scot/privacy-policy-app
You should not use the app if you are in primary school or if you are under 12.
If you need help
If you are not sure what the app does or have difficulties understanding what this document says, you should talk to your parent, guardian or an adult you trust.
How does the app work?
The app will no longer alert you if you have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
This means that you will no longer be aware of the potential risk of having COVID-19 from being in close contact with someone who has tested positive. And you may therefore pose a risk to others such as members of your family or your friends.
The latest version of the app is available for download now on Google Play and the App Store. This version has alerting disabled. If you do not update your app, it will continue to look like it is active, but it will still not alert you.
Who are we?
We’re the Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland. We are responsible for the app and how it uses your personal information.
If you have any questions, comments, complaints or requests about your personal information, you can contact us.
What information about me does the app use?
The app uses very little personal information about you. The app doesn’t know and can’t tell anyone who you are or where you are. Your privacy is safe!
Read on to see what personal information the app uses.
Data about you when you first start to use the app
| Your information | More information |
|---|---|
Your IP address | Your IP address is a set of numbers assigned to your mobile phone. Your IP address is used to send small amounts of information from the app on your phone to us. The way it works is very technical, but this video explains how IP addresses work. We do not keep your IP address and will not be able to tell who is using the app. The app itself does not know or keep your IP address. |
Is the app legal?
Yes it is. We have a legal obligation to protect the health of the people in Scotland, particularly during a pandemic like COVID-19. The app has played a very important part in helping us to do this.
Although the app no longer alerts users to having been in close contact with a user who tested positive, users are recommended to keep the app on their phone in case it is required for future use.
If you want to learn more about specific legal grounds for processing, you can find full details here.
Who do we share your information with?
We only share information about you with some organisations who help us making the app work. Below you can find details of the organisations that are involved with the app, and what they do.
For more information about the sharing of your personal information, please see here.
| Who receives your information | More details |
|---|---|
NHS Education for Scotland and Amazon Web Services | NHS Education for Scotland provides all the computers and the connections that the app needs to work properly. Amazon Web Services provide storage space for the app (these are known as the app servers). |
How long do we keep your information?
We don’t keep your personal data for any longer than we need to. Most of the data about you is destroyed within a very short amount of time. Below, you can find more details:
| Your information | More details |
|---|---|
Your IP address | The app uses your IP address only for a few seconds every time information needs to be sent from your app to us. IP addresses are not stored and are deleted immediately once the information they are transporting has reached us. |
How do we look after your information?
We have experts in our team that help us make sure that the information we hold is secure and protected. We have also discussed the app with the Information Commissioner’s Office (this is a body that wants to ensure that your information is only used according to the law), and they have helped us check that the app is secure and your information is safe.
Does my personal information stay in the UK?
Yes, your personal information stays here in the UK.
What rights do I have about my personal information and how to use those rights?
You have rights relating to your personal information which we need to comply with. You can read more detail about your rights here. The app does not use or store much personal information so not all of the rights apply. We have explained here how you can use your data protection rights that are applicable to the app. If you have any questions or concerns about your rights, you should discuss these with your parent or guardian.
- For existing users, if you want to stop using the app, simply use the “Leave” option on the app. For all users, you can uninstall the app at any time
- You can delete all personal information from the app using the settings on your phone
- If you are not happy with the way the app uses your information, you can complain about it to the Information Commissioner’s Office. There are details about how to do it here: https://protect.scot/privacy-policy-app#complain. If you are unsure you should speak to your parent or guardian, who can do this for you
What about changes to this document?
If we make changes to how we use your personal information, we will update this document.
You can also review our latest Privacy Policy.
Glossary
You can find some definitions of terms used by the app here.
