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The app, which alerts you to a possible corona infection, cannot be downloaded to your smartphone at this time. The Federal Council wants to decide on a trial phase with a limited number of users on Wednesday. It can be assumed that the ETH Lausanne and Zurich and the army will belong again; so far they have tested the first versions of the application.
A more extensive testing phase is required
This approach is criticized. In one open letter to SP federal councilor Alain Berset (48), who is doing the round on Twitter, A group of well-known and lesser-known people in science, politics, and civil society demand that the federal government test the application much more widely. In a first step, volunteers from a “demographically representative group”, which goes beyond the world of IT specialists, must participate: various organizations such as the Red Cross or Juventute Pro are mentioned.
In a second step, the group of evaluators will expand massively again: “At least 100,000 volunteers, possibly in certain work and residential areas such as Lausanne, Lugano, Geneva, Bern, Zurich or Basel, should participate.” The letter requires that the influence of the application on user behavior be examined in parallel.
Signed by Christine Kopp (53), Deputy Director of the Swiss Red Cross, and Nicola Forster (35), Board of Trustees of Science et Cité and Co-President of the Green Liberals of Zurich. According to the letter, the group also includes epidemiologist Marcel Salathé (44), who, however, did not sign.
Delay as an opportunity
The fact that the group is generating pressure has to do with the fact that the application will arrive later than expected. Before it is available to the population, parliament wants a legal basis. This can last until summer. Until then, the app can only be used in trial mode.
“Delay is also an opportunity,” says Forster. “In this way, users can experience the application in a test phase that is less technology-savvy.” By involving the population as widely as possible in the testing phase, you can also achieve relevant test results and learn from them. “Also, confidence in the application is strengthened.”
The proposed second phase of testing with 100,000 volunteers is also expected to slow the spread of the pandemic.
The Federal Council has yet to officially respond to the demands. According to Forster, however, there is an informal dialogue with the responsible authorities.
DP3T is an application started by EPFL and ETH Zurich to help control the corona pandemic. This is how the app works: if a person becomes ill with Covid-19, they receive a code from their doctor, who writes it down. As a result, all users of the app are warned that they have been close to the infected person in the past two weeks, and are asked to quarantine or consult a doctor. Data protection is at the core of the project: individual motion data is stored locally on the smartphone and must therefore be protected against misuse. The app is ready to use, but because last week’s parliament decided that an amendment to the law was necessary for its application, its extensive use is not yet possible.
The corona virus currently occupies the whole world and there are new developments every day. All current information and figures on the subject are available in the Coronavirus ticker.
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