COVID app update blocked by Google and Apple over privacy concerns in the UK

The UK National Health System (NHS) Covid-19 app was blocked on Google and Apple stores for privacy violations. The app tracks interactions between users with their Bluetooth systems and venue check-ins. A new update to the app allows it to automatically upload users’ venue history, without their explicit consent, if they test positive to COVID and share it with individuals having visited the same venue. The update violates Apple and Google rules that stipulate that any tracking app would have to operate in a decentralized way to avoid the movements of an entire population from  being saved in a centralised database.