"Considering the external conditions that may influence the public availability of the application (STAYAWAY COVID), INESC TEC is unable to indicate, today, a predicted date for its launch, maintaining, however, the expectation that it may be in mid-July. " This is one of the confirmations that INESC TEC made today in a press release and where it summarizes some issues related to the approval of the technical component of the application but also of data protection and cybersecurity.
"The system, mobile applications and back-end servers are currently being tested," confirms INESC TEC on the Portuguese application STAYAWAY COVID, which aims to be an alert tool for users who have been in contact with people infected with COVID-19, helping to break transmission chains.
In the last few days SAPO TEK has tried to confirm some information that has been advanced, regarding the approval of the use of the Apple and Google APIs, which were already being tested a few weeks ago, but today INESC TEC summarizes several points in a statement. This confirms that, on the side of the scrutiny of the two technological giants that have joined together to provide tools that have made available to Governments to combat the transmission of COVID-19, there are still steps to be taken.
"The Android version is awaiting the result of the review by Google. The iOS version is pending authorization to approve the application by Apple for access to the Exposure Notification interface", says the statement from INESC TEC.
The app's development involves Systems and Computers Engineering, Technology and Science (INESC TEC), the Public Health Institute of the University of Porto (ISPUP), and the Keyruptive and Ubirider spin-offs, in a process that started in April following at the request of the Government, with the collaboration of the National Center for Cybersecurity (CNCS).
"The voluntary STAYAWAY COVID application, non-intrusive and non-discriminatory, guaranteeing the privacy and protection of users' data. STAYAWAY COVID detects the physical proximity between smartphones and informs its users if they have had a close exposure and for at least 15 minutes with someone infected in the last 14 days ", reminds the organization.
Data protection and cybersecurity
The way in which these applications manage to protect user data and security has been one of the main concerns, and yesterday the CNPD analysis of the impact carried out by the application shows that the issue is not yet closed at STAYAWAY COVID, with several unresolved issues. .
INESC TEC does not rule out the issue. "The National Data Protection Commission (CNPD) issued, this Monday, June 29, a deliberation on the Data Protection Impact Assessment previously conducted. In general, CNPD agrees with the result of the assessment and with the measures foreseen to mitigate the identified risks, while noting, however, pointing out the need for the next revisions to address some aspects that are still insufficiently defined or characterized ", he says.
In a statement, it also indicates that CNPD also points out the need to provide a legal framework for the operation of the system and lists recommendations for its future use, in order to achieve a high level of protection, including with regard to interoperability. with applications from other countries.
In the statement, the organization also states that "as envisaged, following the resolution issued, INESC TEC will review the impact assessment, taking into account the critical aspects signaled and the relevant recommendations issued by CNPD".