Germany’s coronavirus warning app to launch on Tuesday

By dpa correspondents
Berlin (dpa) – The German government’s coronavirus warning and tracking app will be launched and activated on Tuesday, dpa has learned.

It is believed that the most recent tests went well. The app is intended to better identify chains of infection and to make sure that the relaxation of restrictions on public life does not lead to a new surge in cases.

The app is to be formally presented by Health Minister Jens Spahn, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, representatives of the companies that developed the app – T-Systems and SAP – and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff, Helge Braun.

Owners of smartphones can decide whether to install the warning app or not. The app can also be deactivated later or uninstalled.

The app measures via Bluetooth whether users have been closer than 2 metres from each other over a period of 15 minutes. Identification numbers are anonymously kept every two and a half to five minutes. The location of the encounter is not recorded.

If a user tests positive for Covid-19 and shares that information with the app, other users are alerted if they have had contact with that infected person.

A multi-level data protection concept has been developed for the app in response to privacy concerns. Federal data protection officer Ulrich Kelber praised it as a “data protection-friendly solution.”