The European Commission has reiterated a call for EU states to cooperate on Covid-19 tracing apps, so they are interoperable across borders. Getting the apps working across countries is a key part of the strategy presented by the Commission to restart the tourism industry in Europe this summer.
The Commission released new guidelines agreed with the member states on ensuring tracing apps can communicate with each other when required. This means people will only have to use one app to report a positive test or to receive an alert, wherever they are in the EU.
The guidelines are part of the EU 'toolbox' of common standards to develop contact tracing applications, which already includes Commission guidance on data protection. The framework sets out that tracing apps must be voluntary, transparent, temporary, secure, use temporary and pseudonymised data, rely on Bluetooth technology, be approved by national health authorities, and be inter-operable across borders as well as across operating systems.
Interoperability is crucial, so that wide, voluntary take-up of national tracing apps can support the relaxing of confinement measures and the lifting of restrictions of freedom of movement throughout the EU, the Commission said.
