Testing of the Immuni contact-tracing App designed to help Italy manage the second phase of the coronavirus emergency is set to start after the privacy ombudsman gave the green light.
It will be tested in Liguria, Puglia, Marche and Abruzzo from June 8 and it has been possible to download it throughout Italy since June 1 on Apple and Google's digital shops. It will be a few days before the application is operative throughout the nation.
"It is an innovative, technological support to the initiatives the government has already put into place to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus," said a joint statement by the ministries of health and of innovation and the premier's department. "It was developed in compliance with Italian and European legislation to protect privacy".
"It is starting with a test that will last several days and then, next week or the week after, it will be extended to everyone," explained Deputy Health Minister Pierpaolo Sileri. He said that the app "is part of a positive-case tracing system in which the competent doctor has an essential role". Use of Immuni is voluntary and it is based on bluetooth technology. Once installed, all that is required is some information, such as the town of residence, and the system will function automatically. The smartphones it is present on will exchange automatically generated codes - when they are less than a metre from each other - in an anonymous way to make it possible to trace who is at risk in the case in which someone contracts the virus.
When health facilities or local health authorities register a new positive case, following the consent of the individuals, the health operators insert a code into the system. At that point, the system sends notification to the users who have been in close contact with the positive case.
The data collected will be stored on the individual devices, not on a central server. The system will not trace movements, only close contacts between smartphones, and it will only be possible to share data collected with the authorization of the smartphone's user. At then end, all the data collected and shared with the central server, managed by Sogei, will be cancelled by December 31, 2020.
All the relevant information about the functioning of the system is available on the immuni.italia.it website.
Support is available from a toll-free number, 800 91 24 91, from 8:00 to 20:00.
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Source: Ansa
Data di pubblicazione: 4 June 2020 , ultimo aggiornamento 4 June 2020
