The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

"Screen capture" N ° 6 - The three risks of a "StopCovid" application

2020-04-13T08:58:12.660Z


EXCLUSIVE SUBSCRIBERS LETTER - Each week, a selection of analyzes, information and recommendations for reasoned and reasonable uses of technology.


Dear subscribers,

Where does tech fit in the battle against the Covid-19? In previous letters, we talked about the mobilization of start-ups and large tech groups in the face of the coronavirus epidemic, to produce artificial masks and respirators using 3D printers, to stem false news and raise funds. A much less consensual theme has risen to the fore in recent days: tracking applications . It is on this subject that I would like to come back with you, and share some lines of reflection.

Have you subscribed to Le Figaro? To receive this letter every week by email, go to the management page of your newsletters .

There were two big news last week which, basically, come together:

  • France is studying the creation of a social relations tracking application, StopCovid, as part of a European initiative. Eight European countries are working on it, said yesterday Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market.
  • Apple and Google announced on Friday a joint initiative to facilitate the development of tracking applications, making them more efficient, consume less battery, and easily exchange information between iPhone and Android smartphones.

The two initiatives follow the same logic: it is to use the detection capabilities of smartphones to trace the thread of their social relationships, and alert those who have encountered people infected in the past 14 days. The applications will facilitate the identification of suspicious cases when the time for deconfinement comes. So much for the principle.

In practice, this raises at least three main questions, to which I will try to provide answers:

  • The risk of a generalized tracking (the State and the “Big Brother” application).
  • The risk of technical failures (security breaches, hacking, diagnostic errors).
  • The risk of communication errors around the device, as part of the deconfinement strategy.
  • The most vehement criticisms concern the danger of a

    This article is for subscribers only. You have 74% left to discover.

    Subscribe: € 1 the first month

    cancellable at any time

    Enter your email

    Already subscribed? Log in

    Source: lefigaro

    All news articles on 2020-04-13

    You may like

    Trends 24h

    News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

    Latest

    © Communities 2019 - Privacy

    The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
    The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.