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Latvia COVID-19 Mobile Application
The app is a solution that helps limit the spread of coronavirus in Latvia and find out faster if you have been exposed to COVID-19. This app enables you to make the decision to self-isolate faster to help keep your friends, family and the general public safe, as well as monitor symptoms and seek help faster if needed.
The app is developed in cooperation with Cert.lv and the Data State Inspectorate, in compliance with European data protection principles and security regulations.
How does the app work?
It is based on a methodology developed by European scientists, including those from Latvia, and the new Bluetooth signal exchange algorithm developed by Google and Apple. Using it is voluntary. The app uses Bluetooth to anonymously detect nearby smartphones (within ~2 m proximity, present for longer than 15 minutes) that also have this app installed. This information is only kept on user’s device, and automatically deleted after 14 days.
SPKC gets in touch with those individuals who have been confirmed to be a COVID-19 case – regardless of whether they use the app or not. SPKC receives this information from health institutions, not from the app. If the patient uses this app, SPKC will send them a code. When entered in the app, an anonymous notification will be sent to detected contacts that have been at risk to be infected. Sender’s identity is not disclosed to recipients. Likewise, the infected individual does not know who the recipients are.
If your COVID-19 test came back positive and you would like to notify people you have been in close contact with about the potential risk of infection and encourage them to take precaution, you should enter a code in the “Apturi Covid†app. The app activation code is provided to you by SPKC. You can receive the code in two ways
1) you can write an e-mail to apturicovid@spkc.gov.lv, asking for the code or
2) you will receive the code after an SPKC epidemiologist contacted you.
Regardless, whether you wrote an email to apturicovid@spkc.gov.lv or not, SPKC contacts everyone who received a positive COVID-19 test result and sends the code in a text message to the “Apturi Covid†users afterwards.
When the code is entered in the app, encrypted data about the infected user’s contacts is delivered to the SPKC server. The phones of other “Apturi Covid†users connect to the server daily to check, if they have been in contact with the infected individual in the previous weeks. The server and the app only stores anonymous data for 14 days and deletes it afterwards.
Which information is used in the app?
The app is based on encrypted data, as well as on the principle of voluntary use. Contacts detected via Bluetooth are kept on device only, encrypted with random generated key, and are not disclosed to the user or developers of this app. Data is deleted after 14 days.
You can opt in to provide your phone number in the app. SPKC will only receive it if and when you are notified about exposure to COVID-19. If you provide your phone number, SPKC will be able to get in touch with you and, if required, help you decide whether you need to self-isolate or seek additional medical assistance if you develop symptoms. SPKC will have access to the following data: phone number, contact date, signal strength, contact duration.
The app does not access or store information about the location of the user or the exact time of contact.
The app was developed voluntarily and at their own expense by representatives of the Latvian ICT industry and science – LMT, MakIT, TestDevLab, Zippy Vision, Autentica, IT centrs, experts from the University of Latvia, TechHub Riga co-founder Andris K. Bērziņš and others in collaboration with medical professionals, scientists and epidemiologists. Chancery of the President of Latvia, Crisis Management Council Secretariat and NATO StratCom also participated in the process of app development. Digital communication partners are Nord DDB Riga, Deep White, Grizzly Riga, Wrong and Mobilly. The controller of the app is Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (SPKC).
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