"We will not be unhappy to have StopCovid if the epidemic returns." A few days ago, on the set of CNews, the Secretary of State for Digital Cédric O was selling the merits of the StopCovid tracking application. However, this device, supposed to identify people in contact with Covid-19 patients to prevent the spread of the virus, is a failure. Less than two and a half million people downloaded the program within two months. A new communication campaign is planned for the start of the school year to encourage smartphone owners to install it, especially in large cities.
>> LIVE - Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Tuesday August 4
StopCovid works well on Android, less on iPhone
"The application works, it is available to the French", hammers the entourage of Cédric O. Except that ... it's a little more complicated than that. StopCovid works well on Androïd phones. Much less on the iPhone. The developers have failed to overcome Apple's restrictions. After a few minutes, bluetooth, essential for the detection of potential patients in the immediate environment, is automatically blocked. Result, the application "falls asleep". If two people with an iPhone, with StopCovid installed, pass each other for more than 15 minutes, there is a good chance that nothing will happen. A blind spot which greatly limits the effectiveness of the application.
CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS
> Coronavirus: three questions on rapid serological tests in pharmacies
> Holidays: should grandparents worry about looking after their grandchildren?
> Coronavirus: in schools, the health protocol will remain the same at the start of the school year
> Coronavirus: the 5 mistakes not to make with your mask
> Coronavirus: what we know about transmission by micro-droplets in the air
The CNIL asked to settle "several irregularities"
Commissioned at the beginning of June when the epidemic was in its descending phase, the application is little used. 500,000 people have already uninstalled it and the results after two weeks were insignificant (14 reports of risk of contamination). In mid-July, the guardian of the private life of the French, the Cnil, had asked the government to settle "several irregularities" concerning the application "within one month".
>> Find all the newspapers of the editorial staff of Europe 1 in replay and podcast here
StopCovid prevents France from joining the European tracing project
In addition, in the name of digital sovereignty, the information collected is collected via a centralized technical architecture, not compatible with the technology set up by Google and Apple. Result: France will not be able to integrate the European Commission program, which aims to allow the exchange of data between the publishers of the 18 national mobile contact tracing applications scaffolded to fight against Covid-19. In the Union, only the Hungarian application is in the same situation as StopCovid ...