German COVID-19 warning app wins on user privacy

June 15, 2020

“Patience always pays,” the proverb goes. The introduction of a coronavirus warning app has taken a little longer in Germany than in many other countries. China and South Korea, for example, were already using apps to track infection chains back in March. European countries such as France followed at the beginning of June.

But the new German coronavirus alert app beats most others in terms of data privacy. Here are the most important questions about the new app with their answers:

Why is the issue of data protection solved better in Germany than in other countries?

Unlike in India or China, for example, where the coronavirus warning apps create complete, visible movement profiles of the users and send them to central government computers, the German warning app does not detect user locations at all.

The app does not find out where anyone is, which means no authorities can spy on the users. The app recognizes only which other app users are currently in the vicinity. This works via Bluetooth, a wireless standard that enables devices to exchange data at close range.

Read more: Coronavirus contact tracing reignites Polish privacy debate

The phones send each other short-term identification numbers. The actual contact data is only stored locally on the users’ respective smartphones and it is encrypted in such a way that even the phone owners cannot view it. The data is automatically deleted after two weeks.

There is also some data stored on verification servers and app servers. However, this data is anonymized and used to send verification keys and transaction numbers to ensure that the system works securely. To increase people’s trust in the app and guarantee transparency, the developers have published the app’s source code in advance.

How does the warning work if someone is infected?

If a lab determines that someone has become infected, a specially generated QR code with the test result is sent to that person. This code then needs to be scanned into the person’s smartphone. Only when this has been done can an alert be transmitted by the phone, which sends the anonymized data of people who have come into contact with the infected person to a central server.

This server then sends a push message automatically to all those people, i.e., people who have been in the vicinity of the infected person for a period of at least 15 minutes within the last 14 days. The fact that the warning can be released only by means of the QR code from the laboratory ensures that nobody can trigger a false alarm.

People who receive such a warning will also be given recommendations on how to proceed: for example, by having themselves tested for the coronavirus by a doctor and putting themselves in quarantine.

Read more: Opinion: Coronavirus concerns are not carte blanche to snoop

When will the app be available and who can use it?

Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn has announced that the app developers — Deutsche Telekom and SAP — will present the app on Tuesday 16 June 2020. It should then be available immediately.

However, not all smartphone users will be able to install it: It will run on Android devices from version 6 and iOS from version 13.5. Google Play Services must also be running on the devices. This software component is not installed on Huawei smartphones, for example.

The first app version will initially be available in German and English. Other languages, such as Turkish, are to follow.

What other weaknesses are there?

Not all laboratories that test for SARS-CoV-2 and not all health authorities are equipped with the necessary digital infrastructure to send test results to the system and generate QR codes.

This means that people who have been tested by such laboratories and found to be infected but cannot obtain a usable QR code must contact a telephone hotline that has been set up jointly by SAP and Deutsche Telekom. The call center is meant to be able to handle about 1,000 calls per day.

Those calling in will have to answer test questions from call center employees to ensure that they have indeed tested positive. However, the questions and answers must not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the person’s identity. The complicated procedure does nonetheless carry the risk that patients may trigger false alarms or inadvertently disclose their personal data.

European patchwork

A major weakness of all coronavirus warning apps — including the German one — is that they are all only individual national solutions. They are not compatible on a worldwide basis, and even within the European Union there are at least seven different solutions that are not linked or compatible with each other. As a result, if travelers want to protect themselves and others with a warning app, they have no choice but to install several apps at once.

There is another problem: With the German and French apps, the warning can be sent only if a testing facility from the respective country has confirmed the infection. If, for example, a German facility detects the infection in a person who has returned from France, no warning message can be sent to potential contact persons through the French app system.

Almost all European solutions are based on the exchange of data via Bluetooth and thus meet at least minimum data protection standards. But in France, for example, the data is then stored on a central server.

Also, not all apps are as error-proof as the German one. For example, the Austrian app makes it easier to send out a false report because no positive test result has to be proven. The situation is similar in Britain, where an additional mechanism has been put in place to cancel false alarms that have already occurred.

However, at least the apps for Germany, Austria and Switzerland are expected to be able to communicate with each other in the foreseeable future because they use a uniform standard developed by Apple and Google.

Read more: Apple, Google team up to make software to slow down spread of coronavirus

Will the app drain my battery?

That was a major concern for the developers and the reason why they configured the app so that it doesn’t constantly look for other smartphones, but only briefly and at appropriate intervals. This is to prevent users from uninstalling the app again at some point because the batteries are always going flat.

When does the app start to pay off in the fight against the coronavirus?

Experts have set themselves the goal of getting about 60% of people to install the app. Health Minister Spahn is a bit more cautious in his expectations, telling the Rheinische Post that he would be satisfied if there were a few million users.

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Don’t sit too close

Worshipers in Germany can now once again congregate instead of just following services remotely. However, strict restrictions remain in force – only 122 people were allowed to attend this service in the historic Cologne cathedral, which comfortably seats 800 people. The congregation is also not allowed to sing — this is relegated to a small, remote choir.

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Back to school — for some

Only students who are set to finish their primary or secondary school this year are set to resume classes on Monday. Other pupils are expected to follow. Kindergartens remain closed.

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All lockdown and no play…

German states are also set to gradually reopen their playgrounds this week, which had been closed and taped off in order to stem the infection. This forgotten toy at a playground in the country’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, might be reunited with its owner as early as Thursday, May 7th.

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Bear necessities?

Zoos are also set to reopen across Germany, although authorities in Berlin and three other German states opened the sites even before Monday. Museums, galleries, memorial centers and botanical gardens are also expected to reopen.

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Goodbye to quarantine hairstyle

Hair salons are back in business, but both the hairdressers and their customers are required to minimize the risk of infection. Most Germans had spent over a month and a half in lockdown and had to find alternative ways of maintaining their hairstyle — some with less-than-stellar results. This may or may not include the author of this picture gallery.

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Football stadiums are to stay closed for visitors with the federal government warning that no big public events would be held until the end of August. But Bundesliga teams hope to soon start playing without live audiences — and their fans can pass the time by playing among themselves.

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Home visits and larger groups in some states

Across most of Germany, people are still not allowed to meet in groups larger than two if they are not part of a single household. The eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, however, has decided to let up to five people meet away from home. Meanwhile, the state of Saarland is again allowing people to visit each other in their homes. Both are among the least seriously hit states in the country.