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There are more than 1.6 million mobile phones with the application. StayAway Covid working, but only 179 people diagnosed with covid-19 entered the code that allows to alert the rest of the users of the application that were in your neighborhood.
“The problem with the application is not that it is voluntary. These are the difficulties in the organization of the health system and the difficulty of doctors in the front line ”, explains to the PUBLIC the president of the Institute of Engineering, Technology and Science of Systems and Computers (Inesc Tec), José Manuel Mendonça, who has led the development of the application since March. “There are people who are diagnosed and have the code the next day. Others the following week and another two weeks later. And then it doesn’t make sense to use it anymore. “
The application, which was launched at the end of August, allows those infected with the new coronavirus to enter a code on their mobile phone (provided by the doctor) that alerts people with whom they have been close in the last 15 days.
So far, however, the Inesc Tec team says that only 500 people infected with covid-19 have received a code from a doctor to enter the application. And only 179 decided to present it to the application.
111 thousand more downloads from Costa’s ad
The information comes at a time when the Government wants make the use of the application mandatory in work, school and academic contexts and fine those who break the rules. Since the announcement made by the Prime Minister, application It was downloaded 111 thousand times.
“It is an increase of 7.9% compared to the previous day, which is very positive. But the Portuguese were already joining without any idea of being compulsory ”, reinforces the president of Inesc Tec, who admits to fear the effects of the measure. “We agree with the National Data Protection Commission,” he says: “making the application mandatory can be counterproductive and re-generate fears about privacy that make no sense.”
This Wednesday, the National Data Protection Commission (CNPD) pointed out that making the use of an application mandatory to warn of possible COVID-19 infections “raises serious doubts about the privacy of citizens.” When it was approved in July by the Council of Ministers, the request was presented as “a complementary and voluntary instrument to respond to the epidemiological situation” by reinforcing the identification of contacts.
For the team StayAway Covid, the priority should be to develop a way for the medical diagnosis of covid-19 to be accompanied by a code that people can enter into the application.
The President of the Republic announced this Thursday that he could refer the law to the Constitutional Court. “I prefer a thousand times to ask the Constitutional Court to quickly clarify the situation than to proceed with a decision that leads to controversy,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
“Parliament is free to approve or not,” said the president, but if at the end of the legislative process “doubts still arise”, the law will go to the Constitutional Court. In other words, the law will not be enacted until its constitutionality is clarified.
