The European Commission has once again promoted the interoperability of tracing applications to identify people in contact with a someone who has tested positive in guidelines drafted together with Member States, a document published alongside a tourism package on Wednesday 13 March (see separate news).
In this package, the institution notes, however, that such applications must remain voluntary. “Access to transportation services should not be conditional on the use of contact tracing applications”, it says.
The guidelines list a series of well-known principles aimed at ensuring that tracing applications can communicate with each other via Bluetooth. This is so that citizens can report a positive test or receive an alert, wherever they are in the EU and whatever application they use. The document specifies, for example, that applications must adopt a common approach to detecting the proximity of devices and must enable their users to roam in another Member State so that they receive relevant information in a language they understand.
“The voluntary and widespread use of interoperable applications can support exit strategies, the gradual lifting of border controls within the EU and the restoration of free movement”, the European Commission said in a press release, adding that the guidelines are “evolving” and will be complemented by “clear technological parameters”.
The guidelines, however, make absolutely no mention of the conflict between France and Apple today, as this company refuses to allow the French application ‘StopCovid’ - based on a decentralised model - to access certain Bluetooth functionalities of its smartphones (see EUROPE 12480/2).
To consult the guidelines: https://bit.ly/2LrFs1q (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)