The Corona Warning app is available for download from today. But how does the app work, what can it do and can it be downloaded? Here you find the answers.
- As of today, is Corona-warning app on Google and Apple to download ready
- What can the app do , where can you download it and how does it actually work?
- Here you will find all the answers to the Corona warning app
Berlin - It took a long time, now it's finally here: the Corona warning app. It is intended to help identify and break through infection chains in the wake of the corona pandemic *. Actually, the app should have been on the market in April. But technical problems, wrangling over competencies and a lot of discussions about data protection later, it is now June.
This raises the question: why did it take so long?
Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) originally focused on apps that use geospatial information (GPS or cell phone) to track where corona infected people were and who they met. The problem: The procedure is too imprecise and violates data protection principles.
Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn at the launch of the Corona warning app.
© Hannibal Hanschke / picture alliance / dpa
So the choice fell on the Bluetooth technology . The precision problem was solved, but the dispute over the best storage method was just beginning. Should the app be stored centrally on a server or decentrally on the smartphone itself? Curiously, the problem was decided by Apple and Google , who only allow decentralized storage of the contact data for the use of urgently needed program interfaces.
In addition, the federal government published the source code of the app to obtain feedback and to constantly improve the code. Data protection experts and IT experts agree that the time spent was worth it.
Where can you download the Corona warning app?
If you want to get the app on your smartphone, all you have to do is take a look at the Google and Apple app stores . The Corona warning app is available for download there. Downloading is voluntary for all citizens, but is recommended by the government. You can download the app here:
- Here you can download the Corona warning app from the Google Play Store
- Here you can download the Corona warning app from the Apple App Store
Download the #CoronaWarnApp - and fight the #Corona virus together:
The app is now available in the App Store and the Google Play Store. https://t.co/2MzLOViTdz pic.twitter.com/f0uaGCZKlL
What should you watch out for when downloading the Corona warning app?
But be careful when downloading : Apple users in particular should be careful when installing the app. Because if you search for the Corona warning app via the search function in the App Store, the "Coronavirus App" is first suggested as an automatic first suggestion. If you search for this term, you do not get the new Corona Warning app from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), but only an app with the name "COVID-19".
Therefore, users should search for " Corona Warn App ". This is how you get to the right app.
Which smartphones can the Corona warning app be installed on?
Before the app is downloaded, you should check whether the system requirements are met. For example, the current iOS 13.5 operating system must be installed on the iPhone . This condition applies to the models from iPhone 6s or iPhone SE. If you still have an iPhone 5, 5s or 6, you cannot use the app .
Things get even more complicated with Android smartphones. Here is Android 6 and support for Bluetooth LE minimum requirement . In addition, the Google Play Services must also run because the Group does not provide the interfaces via Android itself, but via these Google services. This applies, for example, to the new models from the Huawei brand.
Is the Corona Warning app free?
The good news: The RKI's Corona warning app is completely free for users . The developer companies SAP and Deutsche Telekom receive 20 million euros for programming the app and managing the open source participation process.
In addition, there are 2.5 million to 3.5 million euros per month for the running operating costs of the servers and for two hotlines.
What is the Corona warning app good for?
First of all: The Corona warning app does not protect users from infection with the Corona virus. Instead, it should recognize infection chains at an early stage and thus ensure that they can be interrupted. After all, the virus is contagious before symptoms of the coronavirus * become visible.
The app is intended to warn people in good time via push messages when they are in contact with infected people. Who these people are remains anonymous. It is also intended to help those affected get their test results faster. In this way, the app takes over the task of the health authorities with regard to contact tracking .
How does the Corona warning app work?
The system of the Corona warning app works via Bluetooth . The app records when two smartphones with the same function have been longer than 15 minutes and closer than two meters. For this purpose, an identification number is sent to the surrounding area via Bluetooth at short intervals. Meanwhile, the smartphone also records the Bluetooth signals from other smartphones.
The Corona Warning app is now available for download from Google and Apple.
© Michael Kappeler / picture alliance / dpa
If users who both have the app running next to each other for a certain time, the smartphones exchange their IDs. The contacts are deleted after 14 days and the ID exchange begins again. If the Bluetooth function is not always on, the app cannot work .
Can the Corona warning app work with Bluetooth at all?
The short-range radio Bluetooth was actually invented for purposes such as connecting a wireless keyboard and computer mouse to a PC or streaming music from a smartphone to a loudspeaker.
A task like the Corona warning app was - logically - not considered. However, Bluetooth is actually better than any other technique for estimating distances between two devices.
What weaknesses and errors does the Corona warning app have?
Before the app was published, a technical audit by TÜV-IT closed all the gaps. However, it is also clear that weak points and errors can never be completely excluded . For example, Linus Neumann, club spokesman for the Chaos Computer Club, emphasizes: "The decisive factor is how well they scale and how great the damage potential is for the users."
After all, thanks to decentralization and data economy, the risk for user data is minimized. "In a centralized approach, any potential vulnerability would be more serious."
Marcel Salathé, professor of digital epidemiology at the ETH Lausanne, does not want to rule out entirely that errors can occur when measuring via Bluetooth : “There will certainly be errors, so-called 'false positives', where the app says, two people have come close, although they were actually quite far apart, and vice versa. So you have to be aware that there will also be a blur here. ”
I tested positive for the corona virus - and now?
Anyone who has tested positive for the corona virus enters this status in the app itself. To prevent accidental or deliberate false reports, this is only possible with verification by a code. On the one hand, this is done using a QR code that you receive from the test laboratory. Alternatively, you can also enter a TAN, which you can get from a telephone hotline, since not all laboratories are able to generate QR codes.
In the further procedure, all affected contacts of the infected receive an indication that they should be tested for the coronavirus *.
How safe is the Corona warning app against false alarms?
False alarms cannot be excluded. After all, the Bluetooth technology was not developed for measuring distances. If, for example, a person infected with the corona virus is behind a glass wall, the alarm can still be triggered by the relevant contact persons, even though there was no danger from the "contact".
For this reason, the developers also point out that the app can only help to a certain extent . To protect against infection, you should also keep your distance with an app and wear a protective mask *.
"This app is not a panacea. It is not a free ticket. But it is an important, further tool in containing the pandemic, ”says @jensspahn. The #CoronaWarnApp does not replace reasonable behavior. Distance, masks and hygiene measures remained important.
- WDR news (@WDRaktuell) June 16, 2020How is the privacy of the app users protected?
The clear information of the user is never used for data exchange. Instead, the app first generates an anonymized day key. From this, new temporary IDs are generated every 15 minutes. This means that a direct conclusion about the user is not possible .
In addition, the IDs of the contact persons are stored locally and not centrally. Only the list of anonymized IDs of the infected is kept on a central server.
Is the Corona Warning app safe from external attacks?
Of course there is no absolute guarantee here either. Logically, the developers and the Federal Ministry of Health say that the app is safe . Data from the smartphone should not be accessible. However, experiments under real conditions by a research team from three German universities have shown that an external attacker can create detailed movement profiles of people infected with Covid 19 and, under certain circumstances, identify the people affected.
The Corona Warning app is now available for download from Google and Apple.
© Hannibal Hanschke / dpa
And as if that wasn't worrying enough, relay attacks can manipulate contact tracking and compromise the reliability of the contact tracking system. On the other hand: If you put every meal online in times of Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat, you no longer have to worry about your data.
Corona warning app: Do Google and Apple access sensitive data?
Even though it is theoretically possible for data to be tapped by Google or Apple , one should not assume that. There are no indications in this direction. Because the two companies did not make the program interfaces (APIs) open-source, in contrast to the app itself, there was criticism in this direction. The Chaos Computer Club rates this as a "blemish for transparency and verifiability".
In addition, Apple and Google control the cell phones completely anyway. Therefore “they could always have access to all data anyway . As buyers, we are therefore always dependent on having to trust the manufacturers of our systems - which is not nice, but unfortunately the bitter reality of the duopoly. ”
Do you have to use the Corona warning app?
The use of the Corona warning app is completely voluntary . The federal government has repeatedly emphasized that the installation and use of the app is not imposed. The coalition has also ruled out positive incentives such as tax breaks or other benefits.
Leumann also knows why: "A compulsion to use the app would damage the trust as much as possible." And: "To our knowledge, nobody is planning to do that at the moment." Instead, the Greens and Leftists, consumer advocates and organizations like Amnesty International are demanding that the use the app is regulated by law.
It is not enough that the use of the app is voluntary . Rather, there should be no obligation to carry a smartphone with the app running and show it when visiting restaurants, shopping or events, so the demands. Data protection experts had already pointed out that nobody should be denied access to public spaces without an app.
Does the Corona Warning app work if it is not used by everyone?
The question of "when does the app serve its purpose" naturally arises. According to a study from Oxford, at least 60 percent of the population must participate . However, the experts also know that this number is hardly feasible. The Oxford researchers emphasize that even with a lower involvement, the number of infections and corona deaths can be expected to decrease.
In addition, the general conditions have changed since the study, as government spokesman Steffen Seibert explains: "It was a completely different time with a much, much higher reproductive factor." But it is also clear: the benefits of the Corona warning app are increasing with every additional user. “That's why we hope that many people can be convinced. But it already has its benefits far below this 60 percent mark. ”
By Nico Check
* fr.de is part of the nationwide Ippen editorial network
List of rubric lists: © Michael Kappeler / picture alliance / dpa