December NUI Galway, University of Limerick and LERO software centre lead Covid tracker App study

Researchers collaborating to better understand public acceptance and reservations of HSE contact tracing app

Researchers at NUI Galway and University of Limerick are looking for members of the public and smartphone users to participate in a study on attitudes to the use of a Covid-19 contact tracing app.

As the country exits Level 5 public health restrictions in the run up to Christmas, the research team say it is more important than ever to better understand acceptance and reservations behind the use of the tracker app and data.

More than 2.2 million people have registered with the HSE Covid tracker app, while more than 1.3 million are active users of the software, including more than one third of over 16s.

Dr Jane Walsh, School of Psychology, NUI Galway, said: “We would like to hear from users of the app. We need their feedback in order to learn from their experiences. We are particularly interested to hear from people who have reservations about a tracker app and the use of data.”

Dr Mike O’Callaghan, GP and Research Fellow at UL, said: “The main aim of the study is to establish people’s knowledge of contact tracing and if the public would find a software app, as described, to be acceptable during the pandemic.”

Manzar Abbas, PhD Scholar at software research centre LERO at UL, said: “All of our research is being recorded anonymously so, if you are using, or if you have used, the digital contact tracing app since it was launched and you have some reservations around it we would like to record your feedback and try to improve the shortcomings.”

The research team is seeking up to 30 people aged 18 or over to take part in the survey. Participants will be asked to take part in a phone interview which would last 30-40 minutes.

Interested members of the public please contact manzar.abbas@ul.ie

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