The interesting thing about the German covid app is that it is actually pretty good considering the solution space available to its creators. It features a dece

The interesting thing about the German covid app is that it is actually pretty good considering the solution space available to its creators. It features a decentralized "privacy first" architecture and utilizes the platform APIs which _should_ be the best implementation for handling the actual contact tracing. Since it is open source and uses a very common tech stack, it is easy to check and understand for as many people as possible that it is well-crafted and does not contain any obvious security vulnerabilities or backdoors. This makes it very trustworthy from an IT-persons point of view, and should in minimize the number of unsettled people who don't install the application on their handsets since they mistrust the government. Well-known public instances like the CCC (German IT-Security NGO) did a review on the app and gave it a good testimonial - even on mass media like public television. The government and the involved third-parties like Deutsche Telekom and SAP did a lot to emphasize that there is no harm to be expected from the app and the worst thing that could happen is that it doesn't work - which would be the exact same outcome as if you just didn't use it. Still, Germans' are hard to convince, once they made up their mind about something. The public image of the government, as well as Deutsche Telekom and SAP is often disconnected from their actual performance. The same people often disregard these instances' and companies' ideas, products and services with the same persistence they welcome or defend equaly debatable innovations and decisions from actors they look favorably upon, like Apple. It's sad to see that the good work of many smart people is so easily disregarded. The government and the involved companies actually listened to privacy and security experts and made a lot of right choices. That's something I'd like to see more of in the future. A little bit of appreciation could go a long way for shaping such decisions for the years to come.