EU states agree interoperability solution for mobile tracing apps
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(BRUSSELS) - EU states, with Commission support, agreed Tuesday a set of technical specifications for safe exchange of information between national contact tracing apps based on a decentralised architecture.
This concerns the vast majority of tracing apps that were already – or are about to be – launched in the EU. Once the technical solution is deployed, such national apps will work seamlessly when users travel to another EU country which also follows the decentralised approach.
With the travel season approaching, it was "important to ensure that Europeans can use the app from their own country wherever they are travelling in the EU," said Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton: "Contact tracing apps can be useful to limit the spread of coronavirus, especially as part of national strategies to lift confinement measures."
The proximity information shared between apps will be exchanged in an encrypted way that prevents the identification of an individual person, in line with the strict EU guidelines on data protection for apps; no geolocation data will be used.
To support further streamlining of the system, the Commission is to set up a gateway service, an interface to efficiently receive and pass on relevant information from national contact tracing apps and servers. It adds that it will also continue to support the work of Member States on extending interoperability also to centralised tracing apps.
Mobile tracing apps across the EU - background guide
Technical specifications for interoperability of contact tracing apps