Your phone has a coronavirus tracker in its settings - even if you didn't install it yourself.
Scots have been speculating on social media whether Apple or Google has secretly uploaded a coronavirus tracker on their phone.
Some Facebook and Twitter users in Scotland woke up to discover that their phone suddenly had the Covid-19 app downloaded on their mobile without permission.
It is automatically turned off on all phones - but many users may be surprised to find it in their settings.
The add-on is intended to alert people who have been in contact with someone infected.
Apple and Google announced the joint effort on April 10 and rolled out the plan with iOS 13.5 which was released in May.
If you have an iPhone, you can find it by going into 'Settings', then 'Privacy' and then 'health'.
In the last Android or iOS update, an application programming interface (API) has been added.
In fact, It's not an app - it's the framework within the operating system that will allow contact tracing apps to function but only if you decide to install it.
For example, there is now an entry at the top of the Google settings on Android smartphones that states: "COVID-19 exposure notifications."
This takes you to a screen that tells you if you have to install or finish setting up a participating app to activate the exposure notifications.
Apple and Google published a joint statement about this on May 20.
"What we’ve built is not an app - rather public health agencies will incorporate the API into their own apps that people install.
"Our technology is designed to make these apps work better."
Any free contact tracing app – like New Zealand’s popular KONTAKKT SPACE which is currently ranked number two on all Google Play apps in the US – can do a great job of keeping you secure.
What’s more, almost all popular apps are privacy-secure, which means that users’ QR Code data is protected with end to end encryption.
The designers of Kontakkt Space, said: “Users’ data stays on their phone and auto-deletes itself, unless there is a case of COVID-19 at that location.
"If that happens, every previous visitor is alerted to isolate themselves in time .”
So rest assured – in no one in Scotland can install a COVID-19 tracking app on your phone but you.
