Coronavirus in France: after the flop, a new version of StopCovid in preparation
A new version of the StopCovid mobile application will be launched on October 22, 2020. Denis Charlet / AFP
Text by: Dominique Desaunay Follow
3 min
The first version of the Covid-19 contact case tracing application flopped in France.
But the government does not intend to remain on this observation of failure with a new completely revised version which will be unveiled on October 22.
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The complete overhaul of the system was announced by the Prime Minister himself.
If Jean Castex has slightly mixed the brushes by renaming the StopCovid application by TéléCovid, a name that is already used by other online systems for monitoring patients with the disease, the new application will indeed change its name. , we assure the secretary of state in charge of digital.
Speculations concerning his future surname are rife, in the press and on social networks.
It would be “Covid Alert”, some believe, thus taking the name of the device deployed in Canada.
On the other hand, a change of name cannot in itself ensure the success of the new version.
Remember that StopCovid is at the bottom of the European ranking for the download rate of Covid-19 tracking applications: it painfully totals 2.5 million subscribers in four months of existence.
The Irish app is the most downloaded in Europe, while the UK system leads the adoption rate by its citizens.
The same goes for Germany, which has developed an equivalent device and has so far been downloaded by 18 million mobile users.
StopCovid, speed of lack of confidence in politics
"
It has undoubtedly lacked in the application of the functionalities of advice and information, in order to make a real kit of public health of it
", estimate certain deputies of the majority.
In particular alerts displaying, for example, the rate of contamination in the territory in which its user is located.
According to Cédric O, the Secretary of State in charge of digital, StopCovid was the victim of the “
lack of confidence
” from which the political voice of citizens suffers.
This is why he now wishes to solicit restaurant owners, unions and transport authorities to encourage the use of the application with their customers.
The new version would thus offer the integration of QR codes to record the passage of consumers in restaurants, in order to contact them more quickly, if the place has been frequented by a person positive for the coronavirus.
Centralized operation
Unlike other European applications which do not concentrate all their data in state computer servers, the French system has put off many users, worried about a possible, often fantasized use of their data by the government.
The future app will remain as StopCovid calibrated on a set of criteria that define contact cases, such as the duration and proximity of smartphone owners crossed in a day.
Its download will always be done "
on a voluntary basis
", and an infected person will have to express his agreement before disclosing the result of his test to a third party, specifies the government.
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To read also: France: the StopCovid tracking application flops
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