COVID Tracker app
Help us reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Ireland
• The HSE has made a free smartphone app that helps
improve contact tracing for COVID-19.
• If you use the app, you can help protect people you
come into contact with and reduce the spread of
coronavirus.
• The app protects your privacy and you keep control of
your information.
What is an app?
An app or application allows a
mobile phone to do certain tasks.
Apps on your phone might include
Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp.
If you use the app, you can:
> get an alert if you have been in
close contact with someone who
tests positive for COVID-19
> alert others if you test positive
for coronavirus – this will help keep
other people safe
> track your symptoms and get
advice on what to do if you’re sick
> get regular updates, and protect
yourself and others as we learn to
live with COVID-19
What does the COVID Tracker app do?
1. Contact tracing
• It helps speed up contact tracing and reach more people with the
right advice.
• When someone tests positive for COVID-19, HSE contact tracing teams
identify their close contacts. This could be family, friends or others that
you have spent time with. The contact tracing team tells these close
contacts what to do and advises on testing for COVID-19.
• The app helps to find close contacts you might have forgotten, or who
are unknown to you. The app does this while protecting your privacy.
2. COVID Check-In
You can use the app to record any symptoms you have of COVID-19 and
get advice on what to do. This information is anonymous and will be used
to help us understand how COVID-19 is spreading and affecting people in
Ireland.
3. Updates on COVID-19
App users will have access to the latest information about COVID-19
in Ireland.
How will you protect my privacy?
• The app exchanges secure, anonymous records when people using the
app are in close contact with each other. The app will never identify you
to other app users and you cannot access each other’s information.
• The app does not collect your name, location or movements. Your
records are collected anonymously and stored on your mobile phone.
• If you test positive for COVID-19, you can choose to upload your records
to anonymously alert your close contacts.
• You can choose to put your mobile phone number into the app. The
contact tracing team will call you, if you receive a close contact alert, to
give you advice and arrange a test, if needed.
• If you choose to use the COVID Check-In function to record any
symptoms you have, you can share your town or county, age group and
sex, to help the HSE understand the spread of COVID-19 in Ireland.
How do I download the COVID Tracker app?
There are two ways to download the app.
Choose 1 or 2 below.
1. Go to www.covidtracker.ie on your phone and
follow the steps on the page.
2. Go to the Google Play Store or Apple App Store
on your mobile phone. Search ‘COVID Tracker
Ireland’ and click ‘Install’ or ‘Get’.
When you do this, the COVID Tracker yellow icon
will appear on your phone screen.
Follow the steps in the app to set it up.
Can I delete the COVID Tracker app from my phone?
You can uninstall the app at any time. This will delete the data that the app
has stored on your phone. The data that you have shared with other phones
will also be deleted.
Stopping the spread of COVID-19
The app will help us to track and stop the spread of COVID-19 as we
continue to re-open services and communities.
It goes hand in hand with the other important steps we can all take.
Everyone should continue to:
• wash hands regularly
• cover coughs and sneezes
• practice social distancing
• wear face coverings in shops, public transport and other places difficult
to keep our distance
We have all helped to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in
Ireland. The more people who download and use the app,
the more it will help to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Download the app today and help us to quickly trace and
help those with COVID-19.
For more information, go to covidtracker.ie
Stay safe. Protect each other.
