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StopCovid, the controversial French government mobile phone tracking application to combat coronavirus, is available from Tuesday in France, coinciding with the start of phase 2 of the de-escalation and the reopening of cafes, bars and restaurants in much of the country and Paris terraces.

This application, which can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store for Android, thus adds in France to handwashing, masks and social distancing as another instrument to help fight the coronavirus.

The application, free and for voluntary use, has met with opposition from civil rights defenders, who see a threat to individual liberties. They fear that it is a first step towards a society under constant surveillance through smartphones . Others warn that hackers could use it to hack user data.

StopCovid is a 'contact tracing' application that works with Bluetooth, a communication protocol that allows detecting mobile phones that are a few meters away and sharing information through encrypted messages.

The application does not ask the user to identify himself or personal information or store his geolocation. Once downloaded, the user must authorize the use of Bluetooth and the sending of notifications.

This 'app' automatically registers all the people with whom the user has been in contact in the last 15 days less than a meter away and for more than 15 minutes, for example, on public transport, in a café or in a store. In order for it to work, the two intersecting users must have downloaded the app and have Bluetooh activated. The data will be kept for 14 days, the estimated incubation time for Covid-19.

If a user is tested for Covid-19 and tests positive, their doctor or laboratory will give them a QR code with which they can notify the system . The application will send a notification to other users with whom it has been in contact informing them of the risk of exposure to the coronavirus and will invite them to confine themselves at home and take the test in order to thus stop the chain of infections.

Voluntary

The fact that its application is voluntary, can make it less effective. Its success depends on the person infected, whose identity will not be revealed, notify the system and that people who have been in contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 voluntarily isolate themselves and take the test.

"We need a maximum of people to have it" to make it really effective, said Cédric O, French secretary of state for the digital economy, a few days ago, who especially invited the inhabitants of large cities and users of public transport to download the application.

The French are divided over its use. 45% say they are willing to download it, compared to 55% who do not intend to download it, according to a recent survey by the Odoxa and Dentsu Consulting institutes for the newspaper 'Le Figaro'. It is unknown how many French will eventually do so.

The controversial application has received the green light from Parliament and the National Commission for Informatics and Freedoms (CNIL), which is responsible for ensuring data protection in France. The app respects the laws relating to the protection of privacy in France and provides sufficient safeguards to prevent abuse, according to that commission.

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