Tech system was claimed as ‘the first of its kind in the world developed in response to the pandemic’, but is being shut down having become ‘a potential security risk’

Parliament is retiring the app developed in the early weeks of the coronavirus crisis to support members to participate remotely.

The tech system is now little-used and has increasingly come to represent a potential cybersecurity hazard, according to parliamentary leaders.

The ParliamentNow app was created in the spring of 2020 to enable MPs and peers to take part in voting processes digitally. According to parliament’s annual report and accounts for the 2020/21 year, platform was “developed by parliamentary staff and the Parliamentary Digital Service in a matter of weeks [and] was the first of its kind in the world developed in response to the pandemic”.

The tool has been in use since then and provides a continuously-updating feed of information from parliament’s “annunciator system” – which uses monitors across the parliamentary estate to display detail of current proceedings taking place in the Commons or Lords.

But, after six years in existence, the app was closed down in recent days. The senior deputy speaker of the upper house, Lord John Gardiner, said that the tool had become increasingly sparsely used – and a possible cyber issue.

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“The ParliamentNow app is based on out-of-date technology that is no longer supported on the Apple and Google app stores, making it a potential security risk,” he said, in response to a written parliamentary question from Conservative peer Thérèse Coffey. “There are very few users of the app – the ParliamentNow app has on average 160 monthly users, compared to 51,000 monthly views of the equivalent webpages. Maintaining a standalone app is a disproportionate use of Parliament’s resources, when all the information is readily available on the website.”

He added: “While the ParliamentNow app is being decommissioned, and will no longer be supported from late March, the Parliament Now website will continue to be available… [and] delivers a more accessible and future-proof service, better supporting reliable use with both current and emerging assistive technologies.”

The website referred to by Gardiner now advises visitors that the “Android and iOS apps are no longer available, app updates and notifications have stopped and the apps have been removed from the Google Play Store and the Apple Store”.

It adds: “You can remove the app from your device, if you wish to do so.”

Gardiner advised Coffey that “app-like shortcuts for the website can be set up on tablets and mobile devices to take users directly to the relevant content and provide all the same information, without the requirement for a bespoke mobile app”. He added: “Instructions on how to set up an Annunciator icon on your phone can be found on ParliNet and support for members is available from the Parliamentary Digital Service Drop-In and Support Desk.”