Despite this, there are still concerns around data protection, the costliness of the app, at 20 million euros so far, and technical difficulties, such as not having a compatible iPhone model. The government continues to prioritize security and transparency for their response and specifically the app. So far the public, both nationally and internationally, have supported and even praised Germany’s overall response to COVID-19. Recently, Chancellor Angela Merkel also supported the app by encouraging residents to use it. The app’s design was also guided by GDPR, thus making sure data protection was and continues to be a top priority. Germany’s Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI) and the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) have been involved from the start. They also worked with Apple and Google in order to interface with their APIs. It was commissioned at the direction of RKI, Germany’s public health institute, and was built by Deutsche Telekom and SAP with input from the Center for Information Security (CISPA). The federal government’s goal with the app is to enhance the ongoing response to COVID-19 by accelerating knowledge about potential infections. The Corona Warn-App is a collaborative effort across Germany’s government with advice from the private sector and civil society. No personal data is stored or shared by the app, and the random IDs cannot be decrypted or traced back to a user’s device. For additional security, a user's random ID consistently changes every 10-20 minutes to maintain anonymity. After two weeks, the contacts are automatically deleted from their phone - these contacts are not stored in back-up files. This means that although the app uses the central server to look for random IDs of infected contacts, the server does not record if a user was in contact with someone who tested positive. The app does use a central server to store the random IDs that users voluntarily share when they test positive, but does not record any information beyond this. The Corona Warn-App uses a decentralized storage method, which stores the randomized IDs of a user’s contacts locally on the user’s phone. It is also available as an open source project on Github. Currently, the app only works in Germany itself, leaving questions about interoperability across Europe, but is available in the app stores of other European countries. In order to protect privacy, users will not be notified in real-time when they interact with an infected person. The app also shows users their estimated risk level based on their contacts - low, increased, or unknown. If there’s a match, the app sends the user a warning message. The app regularly pings the central server to check for the random IDs users were in contact with. Once verified, their random, non-identifiable ID will be shared with a central server managed by the federal government. In order to validate their positive result, they will enter a TAN key provided by a testing center hotline. If a user becomes infected and tests positive, they can volunteer to inform others through the app by manually moving a toggle in the app to ‘positive’. When a user’s phone detects another phone at a specific distance and time duration set by RKI, currently 2 meters for a period of 15 minutes or longer, the phones exchange randomized IDs through the app and record the contact. The app uses a Bluetooth model that’s compatible with Android, for Android 6 versions and later, and iOS, for iPhone 6S with iOS 13.5 versions and later. The following describes the app in terms of its technological, data, institutional and behavioral aspects and provides some other key insights about the app. The app was commissioned by the Robert Koch Institute ( RKI), Germany’s public health institute, and became nationally available for download on June 16th, 2020. It is a completely voluntary app that can be used on both iOS and Android platforms. Germany’s Corona Warn-App is a smartphone warning system designed to let users know when they’ve been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. The first briefing document covers Switzerland. This is the second installment in a series of briefing documents about COVID-19 apps in several countries around the world. Candidate at Harvard Law School, under the guidance of Professor Urs Gasser. The following was written by Melyssa Eigen, J.D.
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