'COVID Alert' app facing criticism over download requirements

The "COVID Alert" app is facing criticism for certain download requirements after being released by the federal government on Friday, reports CTV News.

Some of the app's download requirements are reportedly restricting people from gaining access to it. Only people with Android or Apple phones made within the last five years can use the app. A fairly new operating system is also required.

The contact tracing app tracks other phones that are close by and also have the app though it does not collect personal data. Users receive a notification if they have been close to the phone of someone who has reported that they have the virus.

Citizen Lab senior research associate, Christopher Parsons noted that the restrictions make the app unavailable for marginalized groups and older Canadians.

"The worst affected by (the pandemic) are Black, Indigenous, people of colour, people who often have a lower socio-economic bracket. Who's not going to be able to install the application? That same group ... that's a problem," said Parsons.

He added that the federal government is to blame for the problem and not the app developers.

"On the technical end, the developers deserve to be congratulated," he said. "This is a failure of policy. The government should have seen this, I hope someone has, they should have predicted it, I hope someone has, and they should have done something to try and start fixing it."

Parsons noted that roughly 65 to 80 percent of Canadians would have to use the contract tracing app in order for it to work properly, but that is not even possible with the current app.

He added that, from the beginning, it was known that the app should be able to work with older smartphones.

Questions about the app were referred to Apple and Google by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, though a timeline to fix the issue was not mentioned.

NDP legislator Marit Stiles posted about her parents' difficulties with the app on Twitter. Her parents who are in their 70s attempted to download the app unsuccessfully with their older iPhones.

"They're so frustrated that they can't download the app, the app won't work on their phone," she said during an interview. "This kind of surprised me."

"I think everybody agrees the app isn't a bad idea," she added. "We know that elderly folks, seniors, new Canadians, racialized people are the most likely to contract or be affected by COVID-19 ... then it might be a bit problematic that the app only works with the fanciest or priciest new phones."

The app is currently only connected with the Ontario health-care system, though the Atlantic provinces are next to incorporate it.