MADISON, Wis. — If you take a look at the Safer Badger app in the App Store, it’s pretty clear that some University of Wisconsin – Madison students and staff don’t like it.
A large majority of the reviews are one star, with people complaining about glitches, not being able to schedule a test or see the new saliva-based test results. Reviewers called it “embarrassing” and “pointless.”
Some also feel the app is an invasion of privacy.
“Anytime you tell somebody, ‘You have to download this app,” first of all they may have a bit of difficulty with it at first. We recognize that. And they may not be happy, and that may be reflected in their review of the app. We understand that,” said UW-Madison spokesperson Meredith McGlone.
Friday night, UW-Madison announced all 14 campus testing sites would switch to drop-in testing only, meaning you no longer have to make an appointment on the app. An email to students and staff said the decision was made in response to feedback.
McGlone said the university is also giving people a one week grace period with the app.
Starting Monday, everyone on campus will be required to show their Badger badge — a screen on the app — at the entrance of each building.
If someone has tested negative for COVID-19, the badge will show a green check mark and say GRANTED. If someone hasn’t kept up with their testing schedule of once every eight days or has tested positive for COVID-19 in their last test, the badge will show a red X and say DENIED.
Staff at the entrances of each building won’t turn away anyone until next Monday, February 1, to give people time to get used to the system.
“We recognize that this is a big change. There’s a learning curve here for everybody. Not just with downloading and getting started with the app, but also with the testing process and what will eventually be the building access process,” said McGlone.
She said the goal is to make the whole process easy. There is a Safer Badger assistance line that students and staff can call to ask questions about the app. The number is (608) 262-7777. They can also email covidresponse.vc.wisc.edu with issues.
Although some reviewers took issue with what they called a lack of security on the app, McGlone said it is safe.
“We have built robust privacy and data security into this app. For example, it requires multi-factor authentication, which is the same level of security that we have for our campus email,” said McGlone. “The badge screen does not share any personal health information so that is a separate part of the app. It doesn’t show your test results. It doesn’t indicate if you have tested positive for COVID.”
This system is a huge undertaking for the university. It is going from about 12,000 COVID-19 tests a week last semester to about 80,000 tests a week now.
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