New day, new corona news. It doesn’t seem to be enough that all the media have been reporting nothing else for months. We are wearing face masks and keeping our distance. Now the safety measures have been upgraded. You can now carry personal coronavirus updates in your pocket at all times. The Corona-Warn-App has been available in Google Play and Apple App Stores since June 16, 2020. This is supposed to be the new solution? How is an app supposed to protect us?
On behalf of the Federal Government
The app was commissioned by the German government. Deutsche Telekom developed the app in collaboration with the software company SAP. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the CISPA-Helmholtz Center for Information Security were closely involved in the project. The Robert Koch Institute plays a dual role. On the one hand, it made the technical contribution to the design of the app. As the publisher, it is responsible for ensuring that the data protection requirements are carefully checked and adhered to.
The right application
In the past, there have been increasing voices saying that the Corona-Warn-App would be useless. It would have been commissioned to monitor German citizens and keep tabs on the whereabouts of individuals. However, its aim is the complete opposite. It should help us and, last but not least, protect us. The prerequisite for this is that the app is used correctly. Covid-19 is still a notifiable disease. Anyone infected with coronavirus must report it.
Functionality
The Corona-Warn-App offers a useful platform for this. Anyone who reports being infected must confirm this with a QR code or a TAN number. This can be obtained either from a doctor’s laboratory or an official hotline. The data is then stored decentrally on the app. If two smartphones on which the Corona-Warn-App is installed are in radio contact for longer than 15 minutes, these smartphones can shake hands digitally, so to speak. The risk is determined by the smartphones receiving encrypted random codes from other app users via Bluetooth and exchanging them with them. These codes only provide information about the date, the duration and the distance determined based on the signal strength. You then receive a push notification on your smartphone. This then informs you that you have been in contact with an infected person. Finally, you are asked to take a test.
The fear of surveillance
Horror stories from China, India and South Korea made the rounds in the German government shortly before the German version of the app was released. Many people feared that the Corona-Warn-App could be misused as a tool for surveillance. A clear distinction must be made between a tracing app and a tracking app. While a tracking app is actually designed to document the exact locations of users, the German Corona-Warn-App, which is a tracing app, is only aimed at tracing chains of infection. With one goal: to protect everyone. The data is stored decentrally and is generated via the smartphone’s Bluetooth connection. This information is also encrypted. This means that personal data such as name, address, address or even location are not recorded at any time. It is therefore impossible to draw conclusions about individuals. This single letter (the K in tracking) makes all the difference in the end.
Downloads and the finishing touches
Despite critical voices and concerns, it quickly became apparent that the app was well received by the public. It was downloaded a total of 6.4 million times via the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store the day after its release. Trust appears to be growing steadily. The number of downloads has risen to 15 million in the past three weeks. During this time, it became clear that iPhone users download the Corona-Warn-App significantly more often than Android users. This can be seen from the fact that only every second Android user gave the highest rating in the Google Play Store. At around 88 percent, the Apple Store is significantly higher. An update to the Corona-Warn-App now ensures that even the minor flaws have been eliminated. Since its release, it has received the necessary fine-tuning. The latest version 1.0.4 is now available for iOS and Android.
Voluntary and safe
Concerns about data breaches are unfounded. Downloading the app should be a matter of course. As German citizens, it is our responsibility to protect ourselves and others. It is still on a voluntary basis. Everyone wants to be healthy and return to a normal everyday life. So everyone should do their bit too. With the Corona-Warn-App. The more downloads there are, the better the chain of infection can be broken. It also supports the work of the health authorities. The sudden rush of panicked people who wanted to be tested because of mild symptoms is to be avoided with the Corona-Warn-App. By downloading the app, each individual is taking a conscious step towards doing just that. The aim is to return to a life without face masks and social distancing as soon as possible. So go to the App Store and download it. Make an active contribution to the fight against corona and #FlattenTheCurve.
