"Coronavirus data donation" app: The new weapon of the RKI in the fight against Covid-19

An app is now to help the Robert Koch Institute to combat the spread of coronavirus in Germany. It uses data from fitness wristbands. An EU politician warns.

• The RKI wants to use an app to better understand and limit the spread of coronavirus .
• You use data from fitness wristbands and other tracking devices.
• An RKI employee emphasizes that the use of the app is voluntary .
• Here you will find the basic facts about the corona virus * and the corona news from Germany. You can also find current case numbers in Germany here as a map *. The following recommendations for corona protective measures * are currently available.

Berlin - It should become a new weapon in the fight against the corona virus * and support the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) with voluntarily provided data to curb the spread of Covid-19 *: the "Corona data donation" app . At the RKI press conference on Tuesday (April 7), Wieler presented the newly developed app *, whose data should ideally be processed in an interactive map , which will then show which areas are particularly at risk with regard to Corona.

Coronavirus app: RKI wants to use data from tracking devices

Fitness bracelets and other tracking devices should provide the app with the information it needs. Of course, only with the consent of the users - and this, in turn, is voluntary, emphasizes the RKI. The institute wants to benefit from the fact that such tracking devices can record , among other things, the resting heart rate as well as information about the sleep and the activity level of their users . “In the case of acute respiratory disease, these vital signs change significantly in most cases. This means that typical Covid 19 symptoms *, such as fever, can be detected using the app, ”explained an employee of the institute.

The institute also said that other data that users can enter in the app to help the RKI fight Corona are gender, age, height and weight . The RKI representative also emphasized that the use was not used to track contact persons . But it should help to better understand the focus of infection . The RKI never knows personal data such as the name or address of the app user. You only have to enter the postcode once. Location and location data from the devices would not be queried .

Using data from fitness trackers against # COVID19: #RKI publishes # data donation app, which can help to better record and estimate the spread of the corona virus. Use is voluntary and safe. More information: corona data donation. # Together Against Corona #CoronaApp pic.twitter.com/thVhVuzXhQ

Corona virus app: 10,000 to 100,000 people would have to provide their data

When asked by a journalist how many people would have to give the app their data so that it would be useful for the RKI *, the RKI employee replied: "There are about ten million users of such devices (fitness bracelets and smartwatches, note d. Red.). If 10,000 to 100,000 of these people took part , it would be great to gain knowledge . "

And even now, just a few hours after the app was presented at the RKI conference, interest in it seems to be extremely high. So shortly after the conference there were technical problems with the app - apparently due to the large number of hits.

Thank you for your great interest in the #Data donation app.
Due to the large number of hits, there are currently technical problems, including entering the postcode.
We are working on #CounterCorona

European Commissioner Vera Jourova also spoke on Tuesday about the use of corona apps in the fight against the corona virus - and clearly that she welcomes this. "This is probably the first global crisis * in which the capabilities of technology can be fully used to offer clever and efficient solutions," said the EU Commission Vice President of the German Press Agency in Brussels.

Coronavirus app: EU Commissioner welcomes the deployment - but also issues a warning

But she also warned that people should not give up their privacy when using these apps . "The use of these instruments must always be voluntary for people," emphasized the Czech politician. You would have to give a declaration of consent and the app should only be used during the crisis. These are minimum standards that all EU countries must comply with, Jourova said.

By the way: The World Health Organization (WHO) has also developed a coronavirus app. You can find more information in the following video.

* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.