German Coronavirus Tracing App Downloaded 6.5 Million Times

Germany joins European countries like Italy, Poland, and Latvia in launching apps that use Bluetooth wireless to measure contacts between people.

By Reuters | Updated: 17 June 2020 19:27 IST

German Coronavirus Tracing App Downloaded 6.5 Million Times

Governments have rushed to deploy contact tracing apps in the absence of a cure for COVID-19

Highlights

Most apps being rolled out in Europe are based on Apple and Google tech
Germany's app has been downloaded 6.5 million times in the first 24 hours
In field tests, the app successfully recorded 80 percent encounters

Germany's smartphone app to help trace coronavirus infections has been downloaded 6.5 million times in the first 24 hours since its launch, the chief executive of software company SAP said on Wednesday.

Christian Klein said the strong public reception was testimony to the collaboration between teams from SAP and Deutsche Telekom that readied the Corona-Warn-App in just six weeks.

"It's a big success, it scales, it's user friendly and it helps society," Klein told journalists in a video briefing.

France's Coronavirus Tracing App Hard to Link to Others, EU Official Says

Germany joins European countries like Italy, Poland, and Latvia in launching apps that use Bluetooth wireless to measure contacts between people and issue a warning should one of them later test positive for COVID-19.

Although the technology is untested, governments have rushed to deploy it in the absence of a cure for COVID-19, seeking instead to achieve a kind of digital 'herd immunity' against the flu-like disease.

Widespread take-up is needed, however, to increase the chance that both people in a risk event - spending 15 minutes within 2 metres of each other - use the app. In field tests, the app successfully recorded 80 percent of such encounters.

Amnesty Sounds Privacy Alarm Over Gulf, Norway Coronavirus Tracing Apps

Most apps being rolled out in Europe are based on technology from Apple and Alphabet's Google that logs contacts securely on a device and encrypts Bluetooth exchanges.

Such privacy by design appears to have won public trust in Germany, a country of 84 million. France's app, which stores data centrally and is not supported by Apple, has been activated by just 2 percent of the population.

Germany Launches Coronavirus App as EU Eyes Travel Revival

Is Mi Notebook 14 series the best affordable laptop range for India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.