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175 lines
6.8 KiB
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> |
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<html newsdate="2020-12-08"> |
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<version>1</version> |
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<head> |
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<title>German Corona tracing app available without Google services</title> |
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</head> |
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<body> |
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<h1>German Corona tracing app available without Google services</h1> |
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<p> |
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A handful of Free Software developers today achieved what official |
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bodies have been missing for months: They have made available the |
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German Corona Warn App for tracing Covid-19 risk contacts in a |
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version that is completely free of dependencies on Google and |
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available in F-Droid, the Free Software app store. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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Already in April this year, the FSFE <a |
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href="/news/2020/news-20200402-02.html">formulated two fundamental |
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requirements for so-called Corona apps</a>. First, there must be no |
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obligation to use them, and second, they must be available as Free |
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Software. At first glance, the German <em>Corona Warn App</em> (CWA), |
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published in June, meets these criteria, like many others in Europe |
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by now. However, the exchange of device keys via Bluetooth, on the |
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basis of which the risk is calculated, is handled by an underlying |
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interface. |
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</p> |
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<figure> |
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<img |
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src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/4c841b6189a6d77a8061a94ee30b6d1b.jpg" |
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alt="Screenshot of Corona Warn App" /> |
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</figure> |
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<p> |
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The problem is that this interface software, called <em>Exposure |
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Notifications API</em> and significantly developed by Apple and |
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Google, is largely proprietary. This means it cannot be freely used, |
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investigated, distributed and improved. In Google's Android operating |
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system it is also necessary to install and use the Play Services. |
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These Google services intervene deeply in the system and undermine |
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the digital sovereignty of the users. By default, this prevents the |
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use of many Corona apps for people who value <a |
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href="/activities/android/">privacy and software freedom on their |
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Android devices</a>. |
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</p> |
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<h2>Volunteers solve problems step by step</h2> |
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<p> |
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A first major improvement was provided by Free Software developer and |
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FSFE supporter Marvin Wißfeld in September. He <a |
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href="https://mastodon.social/@larma/104630652216622243">built the |
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exposure notification functionality into microG</a>, a Free Software |
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implementation of the proprietary Google services. This allows at |
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least people who own a <a href="/activities/android/">Google-free |
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Android phone</a> and have microG installed to use various Corona |
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apps. |
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</p> |
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<figure> |
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<img |
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src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/35a91da85f747e4c4621ce5e8e336b73.png" |
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alt="Screenshot of microG's Exposure Notification API" /> |
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<figcaption> |
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Free Software implementation of the underlying Exposure |
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Notification API in microG |
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</figcaption> |
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</figure> |
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<p> |
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A few days ago, Christian Grigis, Fynn Godau, Marcus Hoffmann and |
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Marvin Wißfeld went one step further. They <a |
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href="https://codeberg.org/corona-contact-tracing-germany/cwa-android">integrated |
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the exposure notification component of microG directly into the |
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German Corona Warn App</a>. This so-called Drop-In-Replacement |
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enables even people who have neither the Google services nor their |
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Free Software alternative microG installed, to use the CWA. In |
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addition, as of today they are <a |
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href="https://f-droid.org/packages/de.corona.tracing/">making the app |
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available on F-Droid</a>, an app store with exclusively Free |
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Software. This is therefore also advantageous for those users who |
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have installed microG or Google services but prefer to obtain their |
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software via F-Droid for security and convenience reasons. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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microG main developer and FSFE supporter Marvin Wißfeld adds: |
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</p> |
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<blockquote> |
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<p> |
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"The previous solution of installing microG is often out of the |
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question for various reasons. But the new app from F-Droid,can also |
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be run without problems on all current smartphones from, for |
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example, Huawei some of which have been delivered without Google |
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services since mid-2019. The German government and the RKI may have |
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lost thousands of users of the Corona Warn App in recent months, |
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as only Google and Apple users were targeted." |
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</p> |
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</blockquote> |
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<p> |
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It is now up to the responsible bodies, the German government, the |
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Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and their contractors SAP and T-Systems, |
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to <a |
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href="https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-app-android/issues/1483#issuecomment-734491614">incorporate |
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the changes into the main development branch</a>, and thus to pull |
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together with the Free Software community. In addition, this method |
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can in principle be used for Corona apps in other countries. |
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</p> |
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<h2>Free Software once again in a pioneering role</h2> |
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<p> |
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We see a familiar pattern here: the Free Software community <a |
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href="https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-documentation/issues/5">presents |
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a problem and a possible solution</a>, but is <a |
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href="https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-documentation/issues/5#issuecomment-627848335">turned |
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away</a> until volunteers solve the problem themselves with unpaid |
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work and without official support. In this case, the resources of the |
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authorties and companies involved would have easily sufficed to make |
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these significant improvements themselves, or at least to support |
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them. It is laudable that the CWA was consistently developed and |
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published as Free Software from the very beginning. But the process lacked the |
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necessary consistency to remove technically and meanwhile unnecessary |
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dependencies on proprietary software. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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The FSFE appeals to governments and administrations to publish |
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developed software as Free Software, to break dependencies on |
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Google's and Apple's app stores and instead make their apps |
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installable from independent sources like F-Droid, and to renounce |
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proprietary dependencies. As Wißfeld explains, the Corona Warn App |
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already offers concrete additional advantages in the fight against |
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the pandemic: |
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</p> |
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<blockquote> |
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<p> |
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"The free implementation has the potential - in the spirit of Free |
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Software - for improvements that Google's proprietary interface |
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does not allow. For example, it would be possible to display the |
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time of a high risk encounter. This could - if the user voluntarily |
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provides the data - help public health authorities to identify |
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hotspots or clusters, or be used for statistical purposes to |
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increase the effectiveness of protective measures." |
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</p> |
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</blockquote> |
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<p> |
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We would like to thank all persons involved who made the use of the |
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Corona App in Germany possible without having to accept any loss of |
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software freedom. |
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</p> |
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</body> |
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<tags> |
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<tag key="front-page"/> |
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<tag key="de">Germany</tag> |
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<tag key="fya">Android</tag> |
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<tag key="corona">Corona</tag> |
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</tags> |
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<discussion href="https://community.fsfe.org/t/552"/> |
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<image url="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/4c841b6189a6d77a8061a94ee30b6d1b.jpg" alt="Screenshot of Corona Warn App"/> |
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</html>
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