In April, Coda Story’s Eduard Saakashvili wrote about the privacy debate in Germany, after the German government proposed mass data collection to trace the spread of Covid-19.

Last month, Germany released a coronavirus tracing app that has eased the concerns of digital rights activists and the privacy-sensitive German public. 

Released on June 16, the “Corona-Warn-App” uses Bluetooth to detect and contact people who may have been exposed to someone who has contracted the coronavirus. Germany initially pursued a centralized approach — in which anonymized personal data is stored on a central server accessible by the government — then ceded to privacy concerns and pivoted to a decentralized version, in which data is stored on users’ phones.

Beyond decentralization, the app is open source, with 100% of its code published online and a platform for people to comment, ask questions, and make suggestions. Germany’s Chaos Computer Club — Europe’s largest association of hackers, which often campaigns against surveillance technology — has signaled approval, praising the commitment to transparency shown by the German app’s developers.