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Germany appeals to nation to download coronavirus app

Fellow Germans: Will you use this app?

  • Yes

    Votes: 216 68.1%

  • No

    Votes: 68 21.5%

  • Not sure yet

    Votes: 33 10.4%
  • Total voters
    317
Bedameister

Bedameister

Member
Oct 26, 2017
5,942
Germany
So, today the German government launched its Corona Warn App. Some small tidbits from the Guardian

Corona Warn App alerts users when they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive
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The German government has appealed to its citizens to download a newly available coronavirus warning app as it launched what it insisted was its most sophisticated tool yet for tackling the pandemic.
The Corona Warn App suffered setbacks including disagreements over data privacy and functionality, but is seen as being introduced just in time as lockdown regulations rapidly relax with a decreasing infection rate.
The app will complement a human tracking and tracing system that has been in place across the country since February. It will alert users whether and for how long they have been in contact at a distance of 2 metres or less with someone who has tested positive for the virus.
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The German app has an open source program code, meaning it can be potentially copied and updated by other countries.
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more at the link
www.theguardian.com

Germany appeals to nation to download coronavirus app

Corona Warn App alerts users when they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

I downloaded it today, how about you my fellow Germans?
What about people in here from other countries where similar things have been tested. Did you use it? What do you think about it?
 
Aureon

Aureon

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,819
Italy has one too, Immuni.
It's not catching as much fire as it should, though
 

SharperFlips

Member
Sep 18, 2019
7
They have limited it to the German App Store it seems. I live here but my iTunes account is from the previous country I lived in.
 
Bishop89

Bishop89

What Are Ya' Selling?
Member
Oct 25, 2017
34,528
Melbourne, Australia
I may have misread this a while ago, but apparently the Australian app sends personal data to Amazon AU...
probably read that out of context .
 
Last edited:
Xando

Xando

Member
Oct 28, 2017
27,280
SharperFlips said:
They have limited it to the German App Store it seems. I live here but my iTunes account is from the previous country I lived in.
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Yeah you need to be in the german app store to get it. My wives parents from the UK tried to get it because they have none but i couldn't be bothered to explain how to change stores to them.
 
signal

signal

Member
Oct 28, 2017
40,182
I installed it. It's funny because on Twitter for the past couple of days it looked like most people were reacting really negatively to the idea of it, but the app reviews so far are pretty good.

zwgNLG2.png
 
Xando

Xando

Member
Oct 28, 2017
27,280
Emmaginary said:
Same problem here.

If anybody knows a way around this issue, I'd be happy to hear it.
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You need to change the store region to germany.

Moved to a new country or region? – Apple Support (UK)

You may need to update the country or region for your Apple ID. Find out how.
support.apple.com support.apple.com

signal said:
I installed it. It's funny because on Twitter for the past couple of days it looked like most people were reacting really negatively to the idea of it, but the app reviews so far are pretty good.
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Twitter is always negative :)
 
LinkStrikesBack

LinkStrikesBack

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,348
I got an email about it from work today, but being as my phone is set to the UK the Google play store won't let me download it.

I've not decided yet whether I will or not.
 
Xando

Xando

Member
Oct 28, 2017
27,280
hydrophilic attack said:
not a fan of having an app that surveys all the movements of citizens
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It doesn't save your movements. The app works like this:

Your phone gets issued a bunch of codes and will exchange these codes with everyone in bluetooth range. These codes are only saved locally on the phones and have no personal data.

Now once you get confirmed infected you tell the app and it sends the codes you have been in contact with to a server. The server then notifies the phones which codes have been in saved on the infected phone.

There is no personal information or movement data recorded.
 
shnurgleton

shnurgleton

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,864
Boston
generalized contact tracing is just smart, full stop. any country that sincerely wants to stop the spread of corona should seriously consider doing something like this
 
hydrophilic attack

hydrophilic attack

Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,438
Sweden
Xando said:
It doesn't save your movements. The app works like this:

Your phone gets issued a bunch of codes and will exchange these codes with everyone in bluetooth range. These codes are only saved locally on the phones and have no personal data.

Now once you get confirmed infected you tell the app and it sends the codes you have been in contact with to a server. The server then notifies the phones which codes have been in saved on the infected phone.

There is no personal information or movement data recorded.
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ok that doesn't sound as bad

thanks for the clarification
 
Kenzodielocke

Kenzodielocke

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,839
They created a very good app with very little data usage. All of the code is open source, everyone can look at it. They aren't hiding anything. I think if you are a smartphone user and don't download and use this, you kinda suck.
 

Kordelle

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,612
downloaded it this morning, I really hope many people install it and we can prepare for wave 2 with it.
 
Massive Nights

Massive Nights

Member
Oct 30, 2017
966
How does it get around Bluetooth not being able to run in the background, does it use the Apple/Google API?

EDIT: It does:
Contact data will not – as initially planned – be saved centrally, only on the smart phones themselves, and the app is based on privacy-focused technology developed by Apple and Google. Users have been assured their private data will not be compromised and neither will the app drain a phone's battery.
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I'd install a version of this for Northern Ireland, the UK one sounds like a shitshow.
 
Cuburger

Cuburger

Member
Oct 28, 2017
10,975
Xando said:
It doesn't save your movements. The app works like this:

Your phone gets issued a bunch of codes and will exchange these codes with everyone in bluetooth range. These codes are only saved locally on the phones and have no personal data.

Now once you get confirmed infected you tell the app and it sends the codes you have been in contact with to a server. The server then notifies the phones which codes have been in saved on the infected phone.

There is no personal information or movement data recorded.
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That actually seems pretty smart.

It's like Pandemic Street Pass.
 
Xando

Xando

Member
Oct 28, 2017
27,280
Massive Nights said:
How does it get around Bluetooth not being able to run in the background, does it use the Apple/Google API?

EDIT: It does:

I'd install a version of this for Northern Ireland, the UK one sounds like a shitshow.
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Yeah it's why the app is so late. They had to wait for Apple and Google to make their APIs available before programming it.
 
EloKa

EloKa

GSP
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
1,905
Those "But what about my data privacy?!"-outcries on Twitter / Instagram / TikTok / WhatsApp and Facebook are something else.

I see zero downsides with this app and it's also not draining my battery or anything like that. It's does not track any personal data and it can't surveil anybody.

Don't be a fool. Install it.
 
Humidex

Humidex

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,148
Osahi

Osahi

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,927
Xando said:
Downloaded it what's the worst that could happen
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You don't know where you're data ends up, how easy it is to deduct your identity from the data if it is anonymised, let alone what future uses of this technology would be. You trust your government now, but are you sure you'll be able to trust all your governments in the future?

I'm no German, but I would need very compelling reasons to even consider downloading something as intrusive as this. For now there is no solid case that proves apps like these even help. To many caveats. Mask wearing, social distancing, fast detection through improved testing and smart lockdowns when a new outbreak appears are the way to crush the curve. Not another big sacrifice of our privacy. We've done that enough already under the guise of anti-terror and security.

PS: Anticipating the 'but you give all your info to Google and Facebook anyway' reactions. I'm the type of person who's wary to use GPS on a phone and pops off every cookie option I can when visiting a site.
 
Dunfisch

Dunfisch

Member
Oct 25, 2017
222
This is a hard sell in current times, because regardless of what the app does, people are distrustful of being... spied on, after a fashion.

In either case, it's also only as good as the number of users. It's a country of over 80 million, this needs saturation to be effective.
 
Ludon Bear

Ludon Bear

Alt Account
Banned
Mar 4, 2020
161
That we German can create a functional and smart app, while being totally transparent, surprised me. I already installed it.
 
Xando

Xando

Member
Oct 28, 2017
27,280
Osahi said:
You don't know where you're data ends up, how easy it is to deduct your identity from the data if it is anonymised, let alone what future uses of this technology would be. You trust your government now, but are you sure you'll be able to trust all your governments in the future?

I'm no German, but I would need very compelling reasons to even consider downloading something as intrusive as this. For now there is no solid case that proves apps like these even help. To many caveats. Mask wearing, social distancing, fast detection through improved testing and smart lockdowns when a new outbreak appears are the way to crush the curve. Not another big sacrifice of our privacy. We've done that enough already under the guise of anti-terror and security.

PS: Anticipating the 'but you give all your info to Google and Facebook anyway' reactions. I'm the type of person who's wary to use GPS on a phone and pops off every cookie option I can when visiting a site.
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The app code is open source and has the support of germanys leading goverment (which has probably the highest standards on the planet) and independent data protection outlets.

Also saying there is no evidence the app helps when south korea and taiwan have been using these apps since the beginning with a lot of success is a flat out lie.
 
Gandie

Gandie

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,649
Osahi said:
You don't know where you're data ends up, how easy it is to deduct your identity from the data if it is anonymised, let alone what future uses of this technology would be. You trust your government now, but are you sure you'll be able to trust all your governments in the future?

I'm no German, but I would need very compelling reasons to even consider downloading something as intrusive as this. For now there is no solid case that proves apps like these even help. To many caveats. Mask wearing, social distancing, fast detection through improved testing and smart lockdowns when a new outbreak appears are the way to crush the curve. Not another big sacrifice of our privacy. We've done that enough already under the guise of anti-terror and security.

PS: Anticipating the 'but you give all your info to Google and Facebook anyway' reactions. I'm the type of person who's wary to use GPS on a phone and pops off every cookie option I can when visiting a site.
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Good thing you don't need to give GPS permission to the app.

I installed it this morning and I've been sharing the link in all group chats I'm in and combatting misinformation. Android is supposedly at 1million+ downloads. I hope we can crack 10 million by the end of the week.
 
Team_Feisar

Team_Feisar

Member
Jan 16, 2018
5,352
Osahi said:
You don't know where you're data ends up, how easy it is to deduct your identity from the data if it is anonymised, let alone what future uses of this technology would be. You trust your government now, but are you sure you'll be able to trust all your governments in the future?

I'm no German, but I would need very compelling reasons to even consider downloading something as intrusive as this. For now there is no solid case that proves apps like these even help. To many caveats. Mask wearing, social distancing, fast detection through improved testing and smart lockdowns when a new outbreak appears are the way to crush the curve. Not another big sacrifice of our privacy. We've done that enough already under the guise of anti-terror and security.

PS: Anticipating the 'but you give all your info to Google and Facebook anyway' reactions. I'm the type of person who's wary to use GPS on a phone and pops off every cookie option I can when visiting a site.
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With the Source-Code open for everybody and all the regulations from our very strict data protection laws, I´d say your personal data will be more compromised if you go to the doctor once if you think you have Symptoms.
Not every official App is designed to further a big Population-Control-and Data-Collection-Scheme.
 
hEist

hEist

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,054
installed it this morning on private and company phone.

like others already mentioned, you need to change your country to Germany in the App Store to find it. They addressed the issue during the press conference and it will be available in other stores in the next couple of days.
 
Dartastic

Dartastic

One Winged Slayer
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,779
Here in America we can't even get people to wear masks properly, good luck with this shit. :(
 
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