StopCovid: why the government application is likely to be little used

The political milestone is reached for the StopCovid application. The controversial "follow-up" project of patients and their contact cases, carried by the Secretary of State for Digital, Cédric O, was adopted by the National Assembly and then by the Senate on Wednesday.

The government plans to roll out to the general public this weekend or early next week, but many elected officials and observers believe that the application will be little used or of little use. Here's why.

Bluetooth reliability

Let's start by recalling how the application works. If you have downloaded it and recently crossed paths with someone who also activated and tested positive for fifteen minutes within a meter, you will be notified by a notification. A message will prompt you to isolate yourself and go to a doctor for a test.

Hence the first purely practical limit: only 77% of French people had a smartphone in 2019, up two points compared to the previous year, according to the barometer of the Authority for the Regulation of Electronic Communications, Posts and press distribution (Arcep). Unsurprisingly, this rate varies greatly by age. 98% of 18-24 year olds have it, but only 44% of 70 year olds and over. Those most vulnerable to the virus are therefore likely to be the least affected by the application.

Even if the tool is installed, the Bluetooth must then be permanently activated. This technology has the advantage of not going through geolocation, but it risks being "wrong" if it detects a contact case located less than a meter away but behind a window or a plexiglass barrier, for example. And it is not the most suitable either to measure a distance precisely.

I have tried, in good faith, to summarize the cases in which the StopCovid app will be useful. Here's what it looks like: pic.twitter.com/nlzxiNKqsO

Finally, owners of an Apple device may experience bugs. Because France has chosen not to follow the project launched by the American giant for reasons of digital sovereignty. As a Numerama reporter tested with the beta version of the iPhone application, Bluetooth detection of the mobile by other nearby devices "jumps" from time to time.

The StopCovid application on iPhone / DR  

As the Parisian has also experienced, Apple software prevents new connections to Bluetooth, especially for questions of phone autonomy and respect for privacy. Overall, Cédric O himself estimated that the application captures “between 75 and 80% of people nearby”.

Fear for privacy

Unlike Asian countries like Singapore or South Korea, where "tracking" by application is mandatory, such "tracking" is not in French culture. Many elected officials oppose it for fear that it will intrude on privacy.

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"I am one of those who do not want anyone to know who I was less than a meter away, for more than a quarter of an hour. It's time for a kiss. This is none of your business, ”protested Jean-Luc Mélenchon during the National Assembly debate.

We cannot forget the number of liberticide laws that have already been passed at your request. #StopCovid https://t.co/YsTV3uHv22

The government has multiplied reassuring statements on this subject, ensuring that no data will be kept. "The data is confidential, the state has no power whatsoever," insists the spokesperson for the LREM group, Marie-Christine Verdier-Jouclas.

"This application is facing a deadlock: either it is voluntary and then it is ineffective, or it is mandatory and then it is liberticide", judges the deputy of Ain Damien Abad, president of the parliamentary group Les Républicains au Assemblée national, interviewed by Le Parisien.

An application that arrives too late?

For several parliamentarians, the application will also find it difficult to convince the French, while deconfinement will begin its second phase from June 2. "The truth must be told: this tool could be useful in the event of a second wave, but there it came too late. The parliamentary debate was scheduled for April 28, they are a month late in lighting! ", Damien Abad gets carried away.

“Nothing is ever too late, as long as there is an opportunity to save lives. The epidemic is still ongoing, the virus is still circulating, ”retorts Marie-Christine Verdier-Jouclas. Contacted by Le Parisien, the entourage of Cédric O also believes that "the virus is much more present on our territory today than at the beginning of the epidemic". A communication campaign will be launched next week.

To convince as many people as possible, LREM MP for Sarthe Damien Pichereau proposed to couple the download with a relaxation of certain restrictions in force during deconfinement. The government rejected this idea.

After organizing an e-debate on digital a fortnight ago, I wanted to share with Cédric O, Secretary of State in charge of Digital, the results of our consultation relating to the #StopCovid application 👇 pic.twitter.com/gBQtv9zise

A tool especially for urban areas

To be effective and stop an epidemic, such an application must be used by 56% of a population, according to a team of researchers from the University of Oxford, which specifies however that this rate "may be lower if the application is used in conjunction with other measures of social distancing ”. Such a figure seems in any case unattainable in the case of an application based on volunteering, which has also led Belgium to abandon its own project.

“StopCovid is useful from the first downloads, this is revealed by epidemiological studies. There is no percentage target ”, underlines the entourage of Cédric O, believing that“ the conditions for a wide adoption by the French population are met (volunteering, temporary, anonymous, transparency, no geolocation) "

In the end, StopCovid will undoubtedly be used more in urban areas, where interactions are stronger and the fear of being contaminated greater than in rural areas. "It can work in some big cities like Paris and Lyon, especially in public transport", judge Damien Abad.

"From 10% of people who use it in a living area, it (the application, editor's note) has a systemic effectiveness in reducing the spread of the epidemic," says Cédric O at Le Figaro.