New coronavirus app tests privacy-minded Germans

Germany launched a coronavirus tracing app on Tuesday that officials say is so secure, even government ministers can use it.

Smartphone apps have been touted as a high-tech tool in the effort to track down potential COVID-19 infections.

Experts say finding new cases quickly is key to clamping down on fresh clusters, especially as countries slowly emerge from lockdown and try to avoid a second wave.

But governments in privacy-conscious Europe have run into legal and cultural hurdles trying to reconcile the need for effective tracing with the continent's strict data privacy standards.

Germany, where a person's right to their own data even after death is rooted in the constitution and which protects the privacy of convicted criminals, has proved a particular challenge.

Initially, the German government suggested using location data including cell tower information and GPS coordinates for its app, but the idea prompted an immediate backlash from privacy experts.

It also recalls Germany's own history of dictatorships.

Both the Nazis in the 1930s and East Germany's communist regime after World War II amassed vast amounts of information to persecute dissidents and undesirables.

Like many other European tracing apps, Germany's system now relies on low-energy Bluetooth technology that's standard in modern smartphones.

The app scans the user's immediate surroundings and records which other smartphones with the app are nearby, and for how long.

If a user tests positive for COVID-19 they can inform others who were in close proximity for at least 15 minutes that they, too, might be infected.

The German government insists users will have full control over their data.

There is no requirement to download the app.

It's up to the user to confirm their test results and trigger the process of informing possible contacts that they might in turn have been exposed.

The app won't replace manual contact tracing.

In fact, German health authorities won't receive the data at all and may end up having to conduct a lot more tests on people who've received exposure alerts.

Still, concerns remain.

Because some labs aren't yet equipped to transmit test results electronically, users may have to call a hotline to obtain a code that will mark them as having COVID-19.

Critics say this opens the door to trolls who could try to trick hotline staff into marking them as infected, setting off a cascade of consequences for everyone they were close to on public transports, in restaurants and supermarket queues.

Such assurances coming from the government are unlikely to convince die-hard skeptics.

Their privacy angst is more likely to be placated by Germany's Chaos Computer Club, which reviewed the app and deemed it largely safe.

Founded in 1981, the group bills itself as Europe's largest hackers association.

It has a history of punching holes in government and corporate IT systems, and of campaigning against surveillance technology.

Linus Neuman, a spokesman for the group, said some early suggestions for the app contained "absolutely unacceptable methods."

He also dismissed the approach taken by France, which has opted for centralised data storage, as ineffective, since it won't work with Apple iPhones "under real conditions."

France, which launched its app earlier this month, and Britain have rejected using Bluetooth software jointly developed by Google and Apple, saying it doesn't give them enough information to manage outbreaks.

The developers of Germany's app - wireless carrier Deutsche Telekom and software company SAP - say it will take several more weeks for the app to get a "roaming" function that will enable it to work in countries with a similar system.

But because of France's centralised approach, Germans travelling there will need to download the French app, officials said.

Neumann praised the German app's developers for using the coding site Github to let the public look over their shoulder.

Members of the Chaos Computer Club made several suggestions to improve the security of the system, said Neumann.

"We can't guarantee that someone won't find a weak spot in (the code) tomorrow," he said.

"But we can say that these weak spots will have a lower overall risk than if the German government had pursued a centralised approach."

The German government has said its app cost roughly 20 million euros ($22.7 million) to development and will require another 2.5 to 3.5 million euros per month to operate.

The sum is dwarfed by the toll the virus has had in Germany, where almost 190,000 cases of COVID-19 and just over 8,800 deaths have been recorded, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

At Berlin's Friedrichstrasse train station, commuters appeared cautious when asked whether they would download the German app.

"For me personally it's not an issue because I don't have a smartphone," said Beate Niehaus. "But I know my boyfriend thinks it's a good idea."

Klaudia Kruczkiewicz said using a smartphone to scan her surroundings felt "a bit creepy," but wouldn't rule out signing up.

(Representative Image)