Security News > 2020 > June > French Virus Tracing App Goes Live Amid Debate Over Privacy
France is rolling out an official coronavirus contact-tracing app aimed at containing fresh outbreaks as lockdown restrictions gradually ease, becoming the first major European country to deploy the smartphone technology amid simmering debates over data privacy.
Officials and experts say tracing apps aren't a magic bullet against the virus but can aid time-consuming manual contact tracing efforts.
Switzerland started a pilot test of its SwissCovid app last week, to last until mid-June, when the government is expected to introduce legislation covering the app.
If the app is mandatory, "People will definitely not use it," said, Ingmars Pukis, a vice president at Latvian wireless carrier LMT, which helped develop the country's tracing app, released Friday and also based on the Google-Apple standard.
The French government's technology choice means the French app is not compatible with foreign ones.