I really question whether these apps will be effective. The limitation section <a href="https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-documentation/blob/master/solution_architecture.md#limitations" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-documentation/blob/ma...</a> of their architecture document shows that people in close proximity for a few minutes may not even get picked up.<p>Anyone who has dealt with trying to work out distance from Bluetooth signal strength will know that it is virtually impossible once you factor in, the orientation of two devices (signal polarization), their locations (in a pocket, bag, case...) and the local environment (reflections and attenuation from walls, floors ceilings, furniture).<p>Additionally, without knowing exactly how transmission is occurring the risk score calculation <a href="https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-documentation/blob/master/solution_architecture.md#risk-score-calculation" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-documentation/blob/ma...</a> may be wildly inaccurate too resulting in the wrong people being notified.<p>And even assuming perfect ability to deduce the risk of infection of two people using the app, will that help in the bigger context. If the people most at risk don't install this app and the least at risk do then you may be drawing resources away from the people that most need help.
Some context:<p>> The German government has asked SAP and Deutsche Telekom to develop the Corona-Warn-App for Germany as open source software. Deutsche Telekom is providing the network and mobile technology and will operate and run the backend for the app in a safe, scalable and stable manner. SAP is responsible for the app development, its framework and the underlying platform. Therefore, development teams of SAP and Deutsche Telekom are contributing to this project. At the same time our commitment to open source means that we are enabling -in fact encouraging- all interested parties to contribute and become part of its developer community.<p><a href="https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-app-android#contributors" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-app-android#contribut...</a>
I wonder how quickly contact tracing applications will be leveraged for other uses. If a significant number of protesters are using such an application then I imagine government will throw the “for your protection“ excuse to go harvest information from the phones of protesters to see who was meeting with him and who their social circles are. Of course, to keep us and our children safe.
So are all the parts of what will become the Swiss COVID tracing app: <a href="https://github.com/DP-3T" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/DP-3T</a>
The New Zealand contact tracing app just allows you to log visits to businesses that display QR codes listing their address. So you can have a log of where you've been. Only most businesses here don't have the codes on display as applying for them has too much red tape.
FWIW The Italian contact tracing app, Immuni, is open source as well: <a href="https://github.com/immuni-app" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/immuni-app</a><p>I installed it today and I live in one of the 4 pilot regions, let's see how it goes.
As I expected it's backdoored. It uses the new central Google Tracking ID feature. <a href="https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-app-android/wiki/4-Google-Exposure-Notifications-API" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-app-android/wiki/4-Go...</a><p>Other apps can do without central tracking Id's. It was fishy that Germany waited weeks for this Google API (officially to support low voltage Bluetooth), whilst other countries had their open source apps ready for long. Germany and France pushed for centralized tracking, it was called off after protests, now its again in via their US friends.
Having spent some time looking at contact tracing app architectures across the world, I realize how conceptually same they are.
Mostly variations are in central or decentral handling of data.<p>BLE based.
Similar usage protocol.<p>Instead of 50 odd countries, each making tracing app with ~90% similarity, doesn’t it make sense that there is one grand GitHub repo?
Each country instantiates their own variant of it, by injecting own config, while contributing to the this repo.<p>Am surprised at the mushrooming effect here.
Polish one is also opensource - <a href="https://github.com/ProteGO-Safe" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/ProteGO-Safe</a>
I'm at a loss as to why Ireland isn't open sourcing our contact tracing app or just using another open source App considering every other EU nation is.<p>I suspect combination of soft corruption and perverse incentives.
Great to see this open-sourced. I think the biggest issue here is why the app is still under development and won't be released. until mid-June.<p>The government has already had more than 3 months to get this ready.
Most European countries develop their contract tracing apps as open source software.<p>The fragmented landscape is unfortunate. It's not just the code being developed that could benefit from a cooperative approach, the ethical, legal, medical and governance issues around these apps could benefit a lot from a shared European approach.<p>We have done this with the GDPR, we should collaborate on this as well.