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Germany COVID-19 Mobile Application
The Federal Ministry of Health and Robert Koch Institute as the central federal institution for public health in Germany published the Corona Warn App on behalf of the German government. Corona Warn App is the official and open-source COVID-19 contact tracing app used for digital contact tracing in Germany made by SAP and Deutsche Telekom.
The app serves as a digital complement to distancing, hygiene and wearing masks. It uses Bluetooth technology and the Google Exposure Notification APIs. The app is designed to help break infection chains by informing you if you were recently close to someone who subsequently tested positive for COVID-19.
How the Corona Warn app works?
Exposure logging is the core of the app and should always be active. When enabled, smartphones exchange encrypted random IDs with other devices using Bluetooth.
The random IDs only provide information about the duration and distance of an encounter. No one is able to identify the person behind these IDs. The Corona Warn App does not collect any information about the location of the encounter or that of its users.
Based on maximum corona incubation times, the random IDs citizens smartphone collects are stored in an exposure log for 14 days and then deleted. If a person is diagnosed with corona and chooses to share his/her own smartphone’s random IDs, all persons previously encountered will then be notified anonymously.
No one will know when, where or with whom the exposure event took place. The infected person remains anonymous.
In addition to the exposure notifications, affected users will receive clear recommendations for action. Important note is Information about the notified persons is not accessible at any time.
How Data protected in Corona Warn app?
The Corona-Warn-App is designed to be citizens daily companion, without knowing citizens identity. This is why the app cannot tell anyone who you are. Data protection is fully guaranteed throughout the app’s entire service life.
- No registration required: No email address and no name need to be submitted.
- No personal information is transmitted: When you encounter another person using the app, your smartphones only exchange random IDs. They measure the time and distance of an encounter, but do not allow to identify persons or find out locations.
- Decentralized storage: Data is stored only on the smartphone itself and deleted after 14 days.
- No third-party access: Neither the person reporting a proven corona infection, nor those who have been notified can be traced – not by the German government, the Robert Koch Institute, any other user, nor by Google.
Corona-Warn-App is the main corona app for Germany, where it is interconnected with the national health care system.
Feature of Corona Warn app
First. Collect nearby identifiers
The Exposure Notification System (by Apple and Google) on a mobile device broadcasts a Rolling Proximity Identifier, while also regularly scanning for identifiers of other phones using Bluetooth Low Energy technology and storing the identifiers locally. The identifiers are only valid for 10-20 minutes and are derived cryptographically from temporary keys which change every 24h.
Second. Communicate test result of user with symptoms (optional)
If the lab in question supports the electronic process, tested users can use the QR code they received during the test to retrieve their results.
Third. Distribute list of keys of COVID-19 confirmed users
In case of a positive test result, users are asked to voluntarily upload their temporary keys of up to the last 14 days to the server. To prevent misuse, the Corona Warn App back end first verifies the positive test result. If confirmed, the server adds the user’s keys to the confirmed list, which is regularly broadcasted to all apps.
Forth. Check for exposure to COVID-19 confirmed users
After a mobile device has downloaded the list of all available keys of users that have tested positive, the exposure notification system derives the corresponding identifiers and checks locally if any of these match the locally collected rolling proximity identifiers. In case of exposure, the risk is assessed and the user receives corresponding instructions.
Fifth. Check in at restaurants and events
Corona Warn App is getting a long-awaited function that could check in at restaurants or events using a QR code. The change should help with contact tracing in the case of outbreaks. Within the next days, an update will allow users of the app to check in by scanning a QR code with their mobile phone when entering restaurants or attending private events like religion celebration. If a guest at the event later tests positive for COVID-19, they can share their test result with the app. Other guests will then receive a warning.
Updated in 26.04.2021
New feature : Event registration
Check in by QR code: With the update of the Corona warning app, event registrations are now also possible. Users can check in using a QR code.
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