BERLIN - Germany changed course on Sunday over which type of smartphone technology it wanted to use to trace coronavirus infections, backing an approach supported by Apple and Google along with a growing number of other European countries.
In Europe, most countries have chosen short-range Bluetooth 'handshakes' between devices as the best approach, but have differed over whether to log such contacts on a central server or on individual devices. Although Bluetooth-based smartphone contact tracing is an untested technology and early results in countries like Singapore are modest, its development is already redefining the relationship between the state and individual.
"The project will be handed over and others will be able to make use of the results we have achieved so far to build a decentralised solution," Fraunhofer HHI head Thomas Wiegand said in a message to colleagues. Health authorities are keen to get insights into the spread of infection and make use of digital contact tracing to support existing teams that work phones and knock on doors to warn those at risk.
Fickle-Minded!