Only 2 million users ... Should we already bury StopCovid?

• The StopCovid application, which is supposed to prevent the appearance of new epidemic outbreaks of coronavirus, has only been downloaded by less than 2% of the French population, according to the latest score.
• Delay in ignition, choice of model, unknown health efficiency ... Critics are raining down on this tool put forward by the government.
• But similar experiences elsewhere in the world also show a certain skepticism on the part of populations.

Very depressing week for the latest technological flagship of our great country, aka StopCovid, the contact tracing app supposed to prevent the appearance of new epidemic outbreaks out of control. On Monday, we learned in Mediapart that the data collection promised by the government, namely a recording to the central server of telephone identifiers only for people who meet 15 minutes at close range, had some security holes.

When I click on the GDPR link of the #StopCOVID application! It's too bad. pic.twitter.com/Kdv1v3RWXJ

A very simple find signed Gaëtan Leurent, a French researcher in cryptography from the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation, Inria, who nevertheless took care of the programming of the application. Like what, you are never betrayed better than by your friends.

“I did a test by installing StopCovid on two phones, and activating it for ten seconds with the two phones in two different rooms (about 5 meters apart, plus a wall). When I then declare myself as sick, my app sends this contact to the server, even though it has no epidemiological interest ”.

An application that does not work outside France

On Tuesday, we continued with the hearing by the National Assembly of the Vice-President of the European Commission, Margrethe Vestager, who confirmed what everyone feared, namely that StopCovid was not compatible with the overwhelming majority neighboring applications developed by other countries of the European Union. And this even as early as April, the same European Commission reminded its flock that "European citizens must be able to be alerted of a possible infection in a secure and protected way, wherever they are in the 'European Union (EU), and whatever application they use'. Oops. Wednesday, finally, because each day brings a little happiness, we discovered the last update of the number of users. 1.7 million only, less than 2% of the French population, when Germany announced 6.5 million downloads just on the first day.

The German digital plotting application already downloaded 6.4 million times https://t.co/Qr1uPAXS62 pic.twitter.com/Ogm6MnobTN

Of course, the University of Oxford, which counted in its first study, in early March, on an estimate of 60% of downloads for an effective app, has since revised its ambitions downwards. But all of its simulations start with a minimum user rate of 14%, a distant goal to say the least. And again, Géo Trouvetou have succeeded in demonstrating that the number of real users was rather capping at around 350,000 last week. Solicited by 20 Minutes to detail their method, one of these experts replied, tongue-in-cheek: "Thank you, but since nobody seems to use this application anymore, I haven't been interested in it for several days ". Lolilol.

"Security breach was foreseeable"

In short, a very nice win  sequence  that does not surprise but then NOT AT ALL Olivier Blazy, lecturer in computer science and responsible for the master of cybersecurity at the University of Limoges. : "We see what we know from the start, that there is a problem with data collection, contrary to what has been repeated publicly by the authorities. The security breach was foreseeable since the identifiers of the phones change every 15 minutes and we can be near a person for a long time but their identifier changes in the middle. If your phone is capable of doing that, then in theory it is possible to start tracking people. ”

But what especially surprises the specialist, who had signed the opening letter published by 450 French researchers in April, in Humanity, on the potential risks of the Stopcovid system, is France's decision to go it alone compared to the rest of Europe. Understand: opt for a centralized system that is very local, where the data collected by the users of the application are sent to a single server which manages the identification of contacts and sends them an alert if necessary. Even England, the only one to have carried out a project similar to ours, has just changed sides, that is to say.

London swaps its Covid-19 tracking app for the GAFA solution https://t.co/U4HvCjASeX

A choice which is explained by an assumed will of the government not to go through the software offered by Google and Apple to allow applications compatible with each other. Read on this subject a fairly caustic editorial in Le Monde which compares StopCovid to French enlightenment for the adventure of the Minitel, "because hey, this story of the Internet, I don't believe it, it will never work. Olivier Blazy:

"France has refused to go through Apple and Google, and yet the first thing to do when you install the application is to fill out a Google captcha [to prove that you are not a robot]. So even if we wanted to send a message at this level, we are completely ridiculous. It looks like a sort of sin of pride, "Look, we are France we are going to develop a national thing", but not assumed until the end. If the application has not succeeded in engaging the population, it is good that it has faults ”.

A bashing not always justified?

Delay in ignition, choice of model, unknown health efficiency, there is plenty to do. But this bashing of StopCovid is starting to seriously drag the secretariat of state to digital, which promises a great operation of transparency in the coming days, from the number of alerts raised - Cédric O mentioned "a handful" in Figaro  - in cost of the application itself. “We consider that we have an application that is ready and that we can mobilize in the event of a second wave departure. When we see that there are 30 people tested positive per day in Paris, 1.7 million users, that's good. Afterwards, we can compare everything. We are told about Germany, but Germany costs them 45 million euros. "

Between the lines ? 45 plates for an app that is useless, it's expensive the gadget, at least, we do it for free. The feedback from countries that have activated an equivalent application shows, it is true, a form of generalized skepticism about its effectiveness, regardless of the level of support of the population. Take Iceland, which has the highest download rate in the world with 38% of the 365,000 residents who played the game, according to MIT. Assessment of Gastur Palmason, the boss of the local StopCovid (sson)? "The application is more or less…. I dare not say unnecessary. Let's say that integration with human tracing gives results ”. It must be said that with barely 1,800 positive screenings, the island of fashionable writers has been almost impervious to the disease so far.

In large countries, yes. But there is still Bulgaria and North Macedonia. The Norwegian app is currently suspended. pic.twitter.com/GWps4ZnEUs

The pioneering countries are also returning

Another interesting case, that of Australia, where Covid-Safe, although installed by 5 million inhabitants, had only contributed to the identification of a single positive case after a month of shooting. Finally, in Singapore, often cited as an example for its management of the epidemic, the director of the digital government agency behind the first contact-tracing worldwide application made this bitter observation: “If you ask me if any tracing application, existing or in development, anywhere in the world, will replace manual tracing, I would say without hesitation that the answer is no. Tracing should remain a human-made process. ” Damn it.

Now that UK is also switching to privacy-by-design decentralized contact tracing, interoperability will also become easier. On this map, I've marked commitment to decentralized proximity tracing in green: lighter is sooner. Amazing developments. # DP3T @carmelatroncoso pic.twitter.com/0H3b9zue3z

If disenchantment is not entirely general, can the inability of StopCovid and its more or less distant cousins ​​to produce concrete results ultimately lead to its outright withdrawal? In any case, this is the wish of Olivier Balzy and many experts in the sector: “The government is not able to justify that the application has the slightest interest. If in addition, it has security vulnerabilities, as well remove it. I hope that the CNIL will point to the shortages of StopCovid and will call for an end to costs ”.

In its second opinion on the device, the independent commission claims that "the effective impact of the device on the overall health strategy is studied and documented regularly throughout the period of use of it [limited by decree to maximum six months after the end of the state of health emergency], in order to ensure its usefulness over time ”. In other words, the CNIL can blow the end of recess at any time. It also opened an investigation in early June on the "collection and management of data" of StopCovid, without yet delivering its conclusions.

"If the epidemic returns, it will serve"

"The CNIL can do all the checks it wants," retorts the Secretary of State for Digital. It has always been said that the application will not survive the epidemic. But I am not sure that it should be buried right away when we see what is happening elsewhere. If the epidemic returns, it will be there and it will serve. ” The threat is however real. The Norwegian application, much more invasive than the French since it records the GPS coordinates of users, has just been suspended by Oslo after a salty report by Amnesty International on the lack of guarantees as regards data protection personal.

Let's take the opportunity to launch a little Cocorico before leaving. The NGO did not point StopCovid among the applications least respectful of citizens' privacy. Unlike Bahrain, Olympic champion of anything big. The application (compulsory) is linked to a television program which called daily, during Ramadan, 10 random citizens to check that they were at home. True story .

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• Covid 19
• Coronavirus
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• High-Tech
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• Health