Norway already has an anti-coronavirus app that combines Bluetooth with GPS

While an application to control coronavirus infections is being developed in Spain ,  or Apple and Google are continuing their own project, in Norway an official application is already being used. With a very different model to the one planned in our country, it  is being a real success in terms of installation on devices .

In less than 10 days, this application called Smittestopp -brake to infection- has been downloaded by 1,427,000 users, 25% of the citizens of Norway . According to information from El País , it is expected to reach at least 60% of the population.

When collecting data, the system is based on monitoring  those who have been with each person for at least 15 minutes at a distance of two meters . A period of 14 days is counted and, in the event that someone suffers from the coronavirus, the possible infected will be alerted. It is a service that closely resembles Spanish, although it has an important difference .

Despite its great success, there was a lot of mistrust towards the same application, the use of the data and how long the information was to be kept. But the agency responsible for monitoring data protection in Norway has controlled the process and the application has been for voluntary download .

Use of GPS and numerous phishing attempts

This application uses Bluetooth, but also GPS geolocation data . An aspect that has generated controversy and is being avoided in most countries. The alleged objective is that in this way it is easier to store and monitor the possible infected . 

The application is available on both Android and iOS and in case someone is infected, people who have been exposed to the virus are notified by SMS . Although the SMS are also causing some controversy due to the massive shipments that are being made of false messages warning of contagions and the increasing attempts at phishing.

It is planned that the application will be deleted at the end of 2020 and that all the data saved from mobiles and users will also be deleted . The information is collected anonymously, albeit centrally, which has sparked debate about how to strike the right balance between prevention and privacy.

In any case, in Spain and many other countries we are waiting for the official application to arrive . It remains to be seen if its use reaches similar figures to those of Norway.