TousAntiCovid, an application that reminds all French people of a bad period. After three years of existence, the application announces that it will no longer update the information related to the evolution of the epidemic. “The initial objectives of the application (…) have been met”, the General Directorate of Health and Lunabee Studio, the developer, welcome Tech&Co.
The first pandemic tracking app, launched in June 2020 and called StopCovid, had not been very successful among the French. In October 2020, Emmanuel Macron even acknowledged his failure: “It didn’t work”, later the President of the Republic admitted. The app had only been downloaded 2.6 million times in four months.
At the same time, it announced the launch of TousAntiCovid. The app makes “contact tracing” easy. Thanks to bluetooth, the system is capable of detecting other nearby mobiles equipped with the application, storing them in memory and then sending a notification if any of the found users tests positive.
The new application becomes a true information tool that contains data on the circulation of the virus at a national and local level, indications on the nearest points to get tested or even a user manual to know the times and places where it is most useful to activate it. the application.
Above all, two functions have made the success of TousAntiCovid. First, the possibility of generating your exit certificate directly in the application from November 2020, then the possibility of saving your health pass in June 2021.
TousAntiCovid is then presented as a true general and personalized information tool that the French have more easily adopted. Visible success in numbers.
In February 2023, almost 63 million downloads were recorded. In a report looking back over three years of the app, Lulabee Studio states that more than 4 million contact tracing notifications have been sent for more than 6 million people declared positive on the app.
A “contact tracing” considered marginal
Furthermore, in 2021, TousAntiCovid was the fifth most used app in France, according to data from Data.ai, ahead of Netflix, Waze and Snapchat.
However, TousAntiCovid’s contact case tracking (or “contact tracing”) function that worked via Bluetooth faced criticism of the National Commission of Informatics and Liberties (CNIL). In July 2022, the CNIL estimated that the usefulness of the app’s tracking function was “marginal in the general system to combat Covid-19”.
“Contact tracing” in the app officially ended on January 31, 2023. As of that date, the app and its core servers no longer collect user proximity history, contact tracing related data, and contact statistics. traffic. The app was removed from these same servers.
Thomas Jaussoin, co-founder of Lunabee Studio, stresses, however, that “essential technical elements for digital contact tracing can work and need to be technically improved in the future to respond to other similar crises.” According to him, this must be done at the European level and “long before a new crisis”.
The date of June 30 corresponds to the expiration of the decree that regulates its use. However, the app is still available on the app stores.
Source: BFM TV
