We should forego the handshake because of the corona pandemic. However, the "digital handshake" could perhaps help curb the spread of the virus. This is already practiced in Austria.
Berlin (dpa) - In the fight against the rapid spread of the lung disease Covid-19, Union politicians would like to use an app as soon as possible that citizens can voluntarily install on their cell phones.
It should work like a kind of digital diary and - if its owner is tested positive for the corona virus - automatically send anonymized information to all people who have had contact with it in the past two weeks. A message would only be received, however, by anyone who downloaded the app on their mobile phone.
From the federal government's perspective, this could relieve the health authorities. Because they currently have to use a lot of energy to trace back infection chains. "The basic requirement for us would certainly be voluntariness," said deputy government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer on Friday in Berlin.
"Everyone could help by downloading the app," said CSU politician Michael Kuffer. A corresponding campaign could be implemented quickly. But that doesn't mean that the original plans of Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) are buried with it.
The Union's chairman on the Bundestag's Interior Committee, Armin Schuster (CDU), said: "Jens Spahn had a right idea, but it was also right that he had his concept for tracking infection chains by cell phone detection given the political resistance of some parties then removed from the draft ". Otherwise, the adoption of the Corona Emergency Aid Package on Wednesday would have been jeopardized. However, work continues to find a majority-capable solution.
Spahn had originally planned to allow health authorities in an "epidemic situation of national scope" to identify contact persons for patients using cell phone location data, thereby to track their movement and to contact them if they are suspected. The authorities should also have used traffic data to determine their whereabouts - for example, to inform those affected about their personal risk.
The Greens, the Left and the FDP in particular had criticized Spahn's plans. SPD politicians also expressed concerns. The Greens, however, were open to "privacy-friendly alternatives".
The Red Cross in Austria presented a "Stop Corona App" this week. Anyone who installs it on their cell phone does not have to disclose personal data. Similar considerations are now being made at the German Red Cross.
The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection, Ulrich Kelber, had told the "Handelsblatt" that if users give their voluntary consent to data processing, such a technical solution for identifying infection chains could be a useful contribution to coping with the crisis. State Minister Dorothee Bär told the newspaper: "Such a digital application would make sense to contain the virus in a targeted manner." There are corresponding considerations in the federal government. "We have to use the opportunities of digitalization now to overcome the crisis."
Stop Corona app for Austria
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