Tuesday noon, the application StopCovid is available in the app stores of Apple and Google. It can therefore be installed on any iPhone (Apple) and all smartphones equipped with Android (Google). The approach is not compulsory, the government has insisted on its voluntary character, while StopCovid has already caused much ink to flow. The main issue of concern is the privacy.
As often, a small number of people, including the author of these lines is a part, has been able to test the app before its official launch in a beta version, very close to the final result. The installation of the application is very simple, it works like the other. It is necessary to go to the AppStore or the Play Store, search for StopCovid and start the installation. But beware, you must be careful to install the correct application, the application of the French government. And not Stop Covid19 CAT which is the one of the catalan government (unless you’ve been living in Catalonia…). Attention also to other applications that can include the word Covid. The risk of fraud is real, even if no documented case has yet been reported.
anonymous Identifiers and encrypted
once the application is installed, it is enough to accept the terms of use. The opportunity to recall that the application does not require Bluetooth to work. It does not access the contacts from the phone, it does geolocates not its users, contrary to many false accusations floating around. Once the terms of use accepted, the final screen is displayed. The reference to “Enabled” is in the top left and in the middle of the screen, a button “I turn off StopCovid”, for those who want it. The ease of uninstalling the application is part of the conditions imposed by the Commission nationale informatique et liberté (Cnil).
Then? And well nothing. There is nothing more to do, if not having his smartphone on itself during its travel. The battery of my iPhone was not damaged by this test. However, the test of StopCovid in the trial period of the application is quite frustrating, we encounter few users in the same service, and therefore little opportunity to measure the impact of the use of the Bluetooth in this case on the autonomy of the battery! It is also reassuring, since during this short and limited period of test, this means that I didn’t see person who have been tested positive for the Covid-19 after our meeting. The principle of the application is to warn its users that they have been in the course of the fourteen last days, for more than 15 minutes and less than a meter, of an individual who, subsequently, has been tested positive.
How hard is it to sick people? They receive with the outcome of their medical test, a code and a QR Code that allows them to declare themselves sick on the application, if they so wish. Their “contacts” (understand the cross and not the content of their address book) are then notified by a message, with the procedure (test, isolation …). The idea being to break a potential chain of infection. In any case, the user identities are not disclosed, the data that are exchanged are of the anonymous identifiers and encrypted, so it cannot be attributed to a particular person. The data are stored on a server and destroyed after fourteen days. And when a health emergency will be lifted, the application will be stopped!
The editorial team conseilleStopCovid: how to use the application françaiseCédric O: “Subject to the vote in Parliament, the application StopCovid could be available as early as this weekend,”SujetStopCovidAucun comment
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