Europe COVID-19 Tracing App Tracker

Last updated: May 2020
  • No plans to launch an app
  • Thinking about launching an app
  • Preparing to launch an app
  • Launched an app
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EU Commission
Select a country to view its status
Austria
Has launched an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
Austria does participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
Austria would not participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Belgium
Thinking of launching an app

The Belgian government will promote physical tracing.

Physical tracing will be voluntary.
Belgium withdrew from the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
Belgian participation in a European approach is still to be discussed.
Contact
Bulgaria
Has launched an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
Bulgaria does not participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
There has been no official confirmation, however Bulgaria is likely to participate in a European approach.
Croatia
Thinking of launching an app
Croatian participation in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project is still to be discussed.
Croatia would not participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Contacts
FIPRA Croatia on LinkedIn
Cyprus
Has launched an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
Cyprus does not participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
There may be willingness to participate in the development and launch of a common European app.
Contact
FIPRA Cyprus
Czech Republic
Has launched an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
Czech Republic does not participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
Czech Republic would not participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Denmark
Preparing to launch an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
The Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project has a Danish participant but national discussions focus on other projects.
Denmark's participation in a European approach is still to be discussed.
Contact
Estonia
Preparing to launch an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
Estonia does not participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
Estonia would not participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Contact
FIPRA Estonia on LinkedIn
Finland
Preparing to launch an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
Finland does not participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
Finland's participation in a European approach is still to be discussed.
Contacts
Ilari Marzano
France
Has launched an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
France does participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
France would participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Contacts
FIPRA France on Linkedin
Germany
Preparing to launch an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
There is currently no national debate beyond PEPP-PT. However the participation in EU wide solutions may be discussed.
Contacts
FIPRA Germany on LinkedIn
Greece
Has launched an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
Germany participated in PEPP-PT but decided for a decentralized approach. It is currently designed by the German companies Telekom AG and SAP.
Greece would participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Hungary
Thinking of launching an app
Hungary does not participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
Hungary would not participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).

Hungary is unlikely to participate.

Ireland
Preparing to launch an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
Ireland does not participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
Ireland would participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Contacts
FIPRA Ireland on LinkedIn
Italy
Preparing to launch an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
Italy does participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project but is considering switching to a decentralised model.
Italy would not participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Contacts
FIPRA Italy on LinkedIn
Latvia
Thinking of launching an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
Latvia does not participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
Latvia would participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Contact
FIPRA Latvia on LinkedIn
Lithuania
Preparing to launch an app
Lithuania's participation in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project is still to be discussed.
Lithuania's participation in a European approach is still to be discussed.
Luxembourg
No plans to launch an app
Luxembourg does not participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
Luxembourg would not participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Contact
Joseph Huggard
Malta
No plans to launch an app
Malta does not participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
Malta would not participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Contact
Martin Cauchi Inglott
Netherlands
Thinking of launching an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
Netherlands does participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
Netherlands would participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Norway
Has launched an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
Norwegian participation in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project is still to be discussed.
Norway would not participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Contacts
FIPRA Norway on LinkedIn
Poland
Has launched an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
Polish participation in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project is still to be discussed.
Poland would participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Portugal
Has launched an app
The adopted approach will be private and anonymous.
Portugal will most likely participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
Portugal would participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Contact
Ana Vila Nova
Romania
Thinking of launching an app
The adopted approach is to be discussed.
Romanian participation in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project is still to be discussed.
Romania would participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Slovakia
Has launched an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
Slovakia does not participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
Slovakia would participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Contact
Dávid Bielik
Slovenia
No plans to launch an app
Slovenia does not participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
Slovenia would participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Spain
Has launched an app
The adopted solution(s) is not voluntary.
Spain does participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
Spain would participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Contact
Sebastian Mariz
Sweden
No plans to launch an app
The Swedish approach will be based on aggregated user data.
Sweden does not participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
Sweden would not participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Contacts
FIPRA Sweden on LinkedIn
Switzerland
Preparing to launch an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
Switzerland does not participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
Switzerland would not participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).

Data protection is regulated differently than in the EU.

Contacts
FIPRA Switzerland
United Kingdom
Preparing to launch an app
The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.
United Kingdom does not participate in the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project.
United Kingdom would not participate in a European approach (i.e. develop and launch a common app).
Contacts
FIPRA UK on LinkedIn FIPRA UK on Twitter
EU Commission

The European Commission published a recommendation and supported the eHealth Network of the Member States to work out guidance on the development of apps. The Commission and the European Data Protection Board have published guidance on privacy, data protection and security.

The adopted solution(s) is voluntary.

The guidance adopted by the Commission and the Member States promote a voluntary approach based on EU rules such as GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive.

The European guidance does not take a position on the specific technologies.

The European Commission has recommended steps and measures to develop a common EU approach for the use of mobile applications and mobile data and promotes it actively.

Contacts
FIPRA International on LinkedIn
Back to Countries

By balancing public health, civil liberties and privacy, smartphone apps can ease the lockdown. Interoperable apps that work across borders could help overcome the coronavirus crisis and spark a long-awaited revolution in digital health.

European governments are under pressure from their citizens to find new ways to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. Many countries are looking to data and digital technologies to prevent disease transmission and to protect risk groups. App-based solutions have been used to try to map the spread of the virus and inform policy responses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The approaches taken in South Korea and Singapore are viewed as success stories.

However, in Europe, governments’ efforts to manage a public health emergency must be balanced by civil liberties and stringent privacy rights. To address national concerns European countries are developing a range of concepts and technical solutions. This could pose significant challenges if the apps are not interoperable – that is, if the apps cannot communicate with one another or do not work when people move across borders in the months ahead.

The European Commission has responded to the regional scramble for apps and data to help tackle the coronavirus crisis by calling for a common EU approach. The Commission’s efforts seek to boost the effectiveness of digital interventions and ensure that key European rights and freedoms are respected, while maintaining interoperability.

In April, the Commission adopted a Recommendation on the policy approach on mobile applications, assisted the eHealth Network in publishing a Toolbox of detailed guidance, and adopted a Communication on data protection. The guidance for national contacts tracing apps stresses that the use of apps should be voluntary, approved by national health authorities, privacy-preserving (“personal data is securely encrypted”) and dismantled as soon as no longer needed.

To highlight the importance of citizens’ rights and privacy issues in the policy debate, the European Data Protection Board, consisting of the Member State data protection authorities, adopted its own guidelines a few days after the Commission. The Board underlined the strictly voluntary use of applications and advised that they should not rely on tracing individual movements (location) but rather on proximity information regarding app users. The guidelines emphasize data minimization but do not exclude central processing of data.

As the European guidance on contact tracing excludes tracking of the location data, the use of Bluetooth to detect the proximity of two mobile devices seems to be the most acceptable technical approach. The first such solution suggested relied on a centralized data collection model (PEPP-PT) but it was quickly followed by a decentralized infrastructure (DP-3T) suggested by a European coalition of privacy and security experts. Apple and Google have announced a collaboration around coronavirus contact tracing — throwing their weight behind a privacy-sensitive decentralized approach to proximity tracking that would see data processed locally on devices, rather than being continually uploaded and held on a central server.

This is new territory and there are many unknowns. But if mobile applications prove to be successful in managing COVID-19, it may accelerate the use of mobile applications in public health not only in epidemics but more broadly. COVID-19 will likely pave the way for a broader digital transformation of health and care.

Laura Batchelor
Head of Healthcare
laura.batchelor@fipra.com
@batchelorlaurab

Thaima Samman
Head of Digital
thaima.samman@fipra.com
@ThaimaSamman

Tapani Piha
Special Adviser for Digital Health
tapani.piha@fipra.com
@tapani_piha

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