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The federal government wants contact tracking nationwide – this requires a lot of Covid 19 testing. And the voluntary Corona Warning app is meant to help fight disease. Image: PRESS IT
Analysis
The Swiss Corona Warning app is coming: these are the most important facts
The Federal Council has revealed the first details of the planned digital contact tracking. Many questions remain unanswered. Meanwhile, the DP-3T protocol is also being tested in the far north.
The Swiss Corona warning app is coming, as reported by the Federal Council on Wednesday. It is planned to complement conventional personal contact tracking. The application comes from the DP-3T software consortium. This publication provides answers to the most important questions.
What is a proximity tracking app?
This is another name for the contact tracking app, and the media is also talking about the crown warning app.
The developers of the “Swiss solution” DP-3T, which is the subject of this article, use the term proximity tracking application. Differentiation from conventional contact tracking (per person) is also possible.
“Proximity tracking” refers to the way it works: Bluetooth signal detection determines the proximity of two mobile devices (users).
What does the federal government intend to do?
The Federal Council reported on the procedure for tracing contacts this week. Federal Council spokesman André Simonazzi summed up last Wednesday via Twitter The most important measures together, which are also related to tracking digital contacts through smartphones. However, some key questions remain unanswered.
The federal government has developed a concept to contain the epidemic in the long term, writes Simonazzi. What includes more testing and contact tracing, both conventionally, by phone and by conversation, but also through a proximity tracking application that will only be launched.
Here you can find everything about testing and tracking conventional contacts:
“All people with symptoms should be able to get tested, and not just, as before, particularly vulnerable or hospitalized people,” the Federal Council spokesman tweeted Wednesday afternoon.
But: In the future, it will also have to be possible to quickly assess people who are notified of a possible infection through the proximity tracking app. Otherwise there would be The problem of unnoticed infections. Infected people are already known to be contagious if they do not yet have any symptoms of the disease. And this is exactly where digital contact tracking is superior to the conventional approach, because those affected are warned at an early stage and can be quarantined immediately until testing.
When does the Swiss Corona warning app come?
The developers roadmap states that the Application completed before May 11 en The Federal Office of Public Health has confirmed this in a communication. The same day, as is known in Switzerland, the “blockade” measures will be greatly relaxed and restaurants will be opened.
Beginning May 11, national tracking of new infections will resume in all cantons, as announced by the Federal Council.
It has not been officially confirmed that the app will be available in the Apple and Google app stores on May 11 and is questionable based on the information available. The federal government has to do considerable preparatory work. Before launch, health authorities must configure a server infrastructure. This means that the positive results of the Covid 19 test (authentication) must be verified.
There are also fears that political discussions may delay the planned launch of the smartphone app in mid-May 2020 (see next point).
What is the legal basis of the application?
The planned use of a Corona warning app raises ethical and legal questions.
Swiss legal experts disagree on whether the Swiss Federal Epidemic Law (EpG) is a sufficient legal basis for monitoring digital contacts.
Attorneys Kerstin Noëlle Vokinger and Urs Gasser write in a NZZ guest comment that a concrete legal basis is required if the state wants to play an active role in tracking digital contacts:
“Due to the exceptional situation, the Federal Council has far-reaching powers due to the federal constitution and the Epidemic Law. However, specific measures must be regulated in a temporary regulation. »
source: nzz.ch
On April 6, 2020, the National Ethics Committee (NEK) released a statement on legal and ethical issues about monitoring digital contacts “as an instrument to combat pandemics.” Among other things, this also refers to voluntariness (see below).
Members of the Federal Parliament want to get involved in the discussion on the planned implementation of the Swiss Corona Warning. The topic will be discussed at the extraordinary session from May 4 to 7 in Bern.
The National Council State Policy Commission (SPK-NR) has filed a corresponding motion. Title: “Legal basis for the introduction of the Corona warning application”.
Who is developing the Swiss app?
The independent software consortium DP-3T.
The abbreviation stands for “Decentralized proximity tracking to preserve privacy.” Scientists and IT experts are taking a decentralized approach to the project, which means that sensitive data remains on users’ smartphones.
DP-3T was officially launched on April 4, 2020.
The Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and Zurich (ETHZ) are in charge. Research institutions abroad also participate. Trials and experiments have already been conducted with members of the Swiss army.
Real-life test in the university lecture hall: 100 soldiers use the beta version for 24 hours in everyday situations. In order to carry out a cross-check (“basic truth”), they also exchange business cards with each meeting, with the date and time indicated. image: twitter
The epidemiological concept is led by the Swiss epidemiologist. Marcel Salathé Resolved Chairs a group of experts from the Swiss National Scientific Working Group COVID-19: the committee advises the Confederation on all important issues related to disease control.
Western Swiss IT manager is responsible for technical implementation of proximity measurements via Bluetooth Edouard Bugnion It played a special role: The VMWare co-founder already contacted Apple on March 21 to suggest a solution to a crucial usability problem, as CNBC wrote in an exciting background report.
The following video is about practical tests with 100 soldiers:
The versions of the application for iPhone and Android smartphones are from Swiss IT company Locate developed. The Zurich-based company has also contributed significantly to the development of the SBB app and the Alert Swiss app.
The most important documents on functionality, data protection and other theoretical explanations, etc. they are available on the github.com programming platform.
Which countries trust the decentralized “Swiss solution”?
What is common is a decentralized contact tracking system based on a proximity tracking application, developed by the Swiss DP-3T consortium.
- Germany
- Finland (new)
- Estonia
- Ireland (still open if DP-3T)
- Italy (details not yet clear)
- Latvia
- North Macedonia
- Holland
- Austria
- Portugal
- Switzerland
- Spain
- Czech Republic (unclear details)
The latest additions to the list are Latvia and Finland, which made announcements this week.
Britain It has chosen the central database approach criticized by more than 500 scientists. In France It also seems so. However, there is resistance to the central “ROBERT” protocol developed by the Inria state research institute. The final decision was postponed this week. Like Switzerland, the French want to reopen stores on May 11 and lift exit restrictions.
What role do Apple and Google play?
Apple and Google support the “Swiss solution” for contact tracking. Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet chief Sundar Pichai agreed on a historically unique cooperation to ensure the secure exchange of data between Android smartphones and iPhones. For this they provide programming interfaces (APIs). The official name of the APIs is “Exposure Notice”.
The two leading technology companies were inspired by DP-3T’s decentralized software architecture. Google Dave Burke, Vice President of Engineering for Android, said in a video conference:
“When we build something, we have to choose an architecture that works. And it has to work globally, for every country in the world. (…) When we carry out the analysis and analyze different approaches, we feel very inspired by the DP-3T group and its approach, and that is what we chose as a solution. ”
On April 30, Apple released a beta version of iOS 13.5 with the above mentioned Programming Interface (API) for contact tracking on iPhones and iPads. Google has also given selected developers access to the same functionality through the Google Play Beta Service.
Apple and Google plan to release a sample code on Friday, May 1 to show developers how to use the system to create applications. Only specially authorized Corona Warning application developers have access.
The Swiss Corona warning app supports Apple’s Google API and should therefore run more efficiently, but according to app developer Mathias Wellig, it works without it, too.
“We are following two technical approaches in parallel here so that we can also support iOS in the background. Whenever possible, we use BLE ads, but in order for iOS to work in the background as well, we switch to a connection-based approach. ”
Mathias Wellig, Locate AG
In the coming months, contact tracking will be integrated directly into the iOS and Android operating systems to make it available on as many devices as possible and to be even more efficient (power consumption). Then, national applications will continue to be necessary to ensure verification of Covid-19 cases (through a state server) and alert of possible victims.
Will the application be a success?
The often-heard claim that the app is only useful if it’s installed by 60 percent of the population or smartphone users is certainly wrong.
The authors of a widely cited Oxford study write:
“Our simulations suggest that the number of cases and deaths from coronavirus is low even [App-Nutzungs-] The numbers decrease. We estimate that we avoid approximately one or two infection users of the application ».
Even a “moderate” acceptance of the contact tracking application could cause a delay in the need for a second block.
Will the Swiss app work abroad?
This is basically possible, as DP-3T managers claim. At least in European countries, which are also launching a contact tracking system based on the DP-3T protocol. However, many questions remain unanswered.
What’s next with PEPP-PT?
The press agency responsible for media work sent Watson the following statement:
“In the past few weeks, PEPP-PT has developed a European software architecture for country-specific crown contact tracking applications in great effort. We continue to make our knowledge, test results, and technical components available to everyone. It has been and continues to be our main concern to control the corona pandemic more effectively with the help of privacy and interoperable applications, so that we can all return to a reasonably normal life as quickly as possible. We will continue working on it.
Is the use of the Swiss Corona warning app voluntary?
Yes
Volunteers in the DP-3T consortium have repeatedly emphasized volunteerism. And the Federal Council officially confirmed this on Wednesday.
It is open whether and how the Federal Council regulates the legal framework. Among other things, this should prevent individual companies from forcing their employees or customers to use the application.
In a statement in early April, the National Ethics Committee (NEK) requested that the implementation of the Corona state warning be based on voluntary action:
“Because contact tracing affects important legal interests and the interests of the individual, and there is a risk that a state obligation to participate will harm solidarity and the will to cooperate of the population to combat the pandemic, it must be based on voluntary action. When using a tracking application, the individual must be thoroughly informed and able to agree without external pressure. “
Several legal experts have criticized NEK’s position on voluntariness. Lawyers Lukas Abegg and Raffael Knecht demand that the usage obligation also be discussed in a well-noted blog post.
In their NZZ guest contribution, attorneys Kerstin Noëlle Vokinger and Urs Gasser enter another scenario: if, despite the state’s recommendation, the success of a contact-tracking app fails, there is a temptation to compel citizens to use it to further block, which is detrimental to the economy to avoid. According to its preliminary assessment, this approach would be illegal.
Someone from the DP-3T research team is preparing smartphones for an experiment. Image: KEYSTONE
How does Covid 19 case verification work?
The Swiss Corona Warning app sees that Covid Disease Check 19 to prevent false alarms, either criminally or accidentally.
For example, infected app users can enter a confirmation code in the app. And its authenticity would be verified by a server query before “contacts” can be alarmed.
“An important part of every proximity tracking system is a simple and easy-to-use way to authenticate test results, even in low-tech contexts with less experienced or weak users [Internet-]Connections. »
Michael Veale, DP-3T source: twitter
On Thursday DP-3T released an analysis for secure authentication of test results and outlined three possible approaches. State health authorities, who then operate the necessary infrastructure (servers), must decide on implementation.
It should be noted here that Covid-19 is a notifiable disease. If someone has tested positive, the responsible authorities should report this to the federal government. However, identification through the app is not possible.
How does it work with the alarm through the application?
Through the exchange of encrypted data between smartphones, Bluetooth “contacts” are recorded and stored exclusively on mobile devices. This corresponds to DP-3T’s decentralized proximity trackingwhich is aimed at different countries.
It will not Record who met who: The app does not record location data or identity information, but only if other smartphones (with app) are more than 15 minutes and are within 2 meters distance from a positive person .
After medical confirmation of a user infection of the application (through a Covid 19 test), a verification process is carried out to avoid false alarms (see above).
Now is the time to track digital contacts, because subsequently all application users who have been in close contact with the person who received the positive test (cell phone) should be warned anonymously.
With a notification through the application, those affected are asked to call the “Coronavirus Infoline” shown to clarify the next steps with the experts.
Can you already test the application?
No The app already available for Android smartphones and iPhones is a demo app from the developer Locate. It is a precursor to the official Swiss Corona warning app.
As Watson knows from an absolutely reliable source, the federal government will launch a new application. However, the user interface and functionality are reminiscent of the next-step application developed by Zurich-based IT company Ubique. The protocol for the application of national warning is developed by DP-3T.
This is the user interface of the application used for testing purposes. Image: EPA
What about data protection?
The Federal Council wrote in a message that users can only see their own data. No personal data or location information will be used. The “Privacy by Design” software principle applies, which means that the least amount of data possible is collected.
Federal data protection officer Adrian Lobsiger also appreciates the decentralized approach followed by Apple, Google, and Switzerland with their contact tracking app because the data is only stored locally. This reduces the risk of profiling. Additionally, decentralized stored data offers less attack surface for hackers.
Thanks to “Privacy by Design”, no confidential data is transferred to a state-controlled server. This is in contrast to centralized contact location systems as planned in the UK and France.
Is the application open source?
Yes
The program’s code is freely visible, allowing independent experts to verify the software.
Why is a server needed?
To warn users of potentially infected applications as quickly as possible through an automated message that they were in close contact with a person with Covid-19. Notifications are made anonymously, no information about the person or place is provided.
The state-controlled database does not contain any confidential user data that could fall into the wrong hands or be misused.
What mobile phones does contact tracking work on?
On iPhones, the Apple iOS 13 or iOS 12 mobile operating system must be running for the Swiss Corona warning app to be installed. For smartphones running the Google Android operating system, devices running Android 6.0 must be compatible.
Apple’s software update is said to be compatible with iOS devices that have been released in the past four years and date back to the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. And according to Google, it should work from Android 6.0.
What’s next for contact tracking?
The cantons are preparing to resume contact tracing. All people who have been in contact with people infected with the coronavirus are identified and isolated. Geneva started on Monday, with Neuchâtel to follow on Wednesday. Thurgau also announced that contact tracing would resume.
As soon as the number of new infections was “low enough”, the cantons should Complete follow-up of conventional contacts operate: Therefore, possible transmission chains should be tracked through surveys and warn people that they may have been infected.
The federal government decides when contact tracing should be used again in all areas “We have to make sure that traceability can be carried out correctly in Switzerland, that is, one or two weeks,” said the delegate of Covid- 19 from the Federal Office of Public Health, Daniel Koch. , Monday in front of the media.
How well does the Swiss app work?
No public information is available on the accuracy and reliability of the Swiss contact tracking application. Practical tests are ongoing. That is why speculation and unfounded fears are currently useless.
When determining “contacts” via Bluetooth signal strength, there are technical challenges that experts say can be mastered. (Specifically, it’s about calibrating the Corona warning app to reliably measure in various everyday situations.)
How secure is the app?
It is the responsibility of the federal government to report on existing security and data protection risks in time before an application is launched.
Independent investigators, including Western Swiss cryptologist Serge Vaudenay (EPFL), have outlined several theoretical attack methods. One of the threat scenarios is that it is possible to draw conclusions about individual infected people or even identify them. Attackers would have to record Bluetooth signals from smartphones and misuse the data. The potential damage from such attacks is unknown.
Finally, independent IT security experts find it problematic if the Bluetooth connection needs to be turned on all the time. This applies in particular to older Android smartphones that are no longer “on-time” or do not have security updates.
In the recent past, there have also been alarming reports of serious Bluetooth vulnerabilities that have made devices vulnerable. However, attackers would have to be within Bluetooth range.
Swiss computer security expert Marc Ruef:
“To say across the board that the framework solves all security and privacy issues is naive. Certain residual risks remain. Therefore, if you want to use this application as a participant and to what extent you must resist your personal consideration.
source: scip.ch
And now you!
The goal is a lively discussion. The author responds to objective and well-founded criticism. On the other hand, controversial comments, insults and unsubstantiated claims (“that doesn’t work anyway”) are removed.
If you want to discuss the technical subtleties related to Bluetooth proximity detection or have a specific technical question, it is best to contact the responsible scientists and software developers directly. This is possible through the project website at github.com (“Problems”).
Sources
With material from the SDA news agency
Learn more about Corona warning apps
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