COVID-19 app raises privacy concerns in Germany

According to the Financial Times, as the German government is due to unveil a new contact-tracing app to fight the spread of COVID-19 across the country, German privacy advocates express concerns and advise to resist ‘swift temptations of simple technical solutions for extremely complex social problems’. The app will rely on Bluetooth connectivity, rather than geolocation tracking, to protect the anonymity of users, but will therefore limit the efficiency of the tracking. Researchers say at least 60% of the population would need to use it for it to be effective.  Politico also reports that Germany’s most prominent privacy experts warn that its data protection standards may suffer from the Coronavirus outbreak.