Malcolm Owen
The French government has accused Apple of lowering the effectiveness of its upcoming COVID-19 contact-tracking app, with digital technology minister Cedric O claiming Apple is not helping enough by preventing background app access to Bluetooth.
France is preparing to test its COVID-19 app "StopCovid" on May 11, coinciding with the planned relaxing of lockdown rules affecting the country, with a final public deployment set for June 2. On Tuesday, the government made a public attack on Apple, in a bid to change its policies ahead of the app's launch.
"Apple could have helped us make the application work even better on the iPhone," said France minister for digital technology Cedric O to BFM Business TV, as reported by Reuters. "They have not wished to do so."
As is the case with the United Kingdom's app and some others, France's version is being developed independently of an announced Apple and Google collaborative effort. The app requires the use of Bluetooth to communicate with other devices, but Apple prevents apps running in the background from being able to transfer Bluetooth data, making third-party efforts less effective in the long term.
Rather than use the Apple-Google API, that would potentially work in the background due to future integration in the iOS and Android operating systems, France wants Apple to relax its policy regarding Bluetooth. The government has previously asked for Apple to do this before on April 20, followed by a similar urging on April 30 by carrier Orange, but so far Apple has declined to change its policy.
Cedric O attempted to shame Apple in the interview, suggesting "I regret this, given that we are in a period where everyone is mobilized to fight against the epidemic, and given that a large company that is doing so well economically is not helping out a government in this crisis." The minister claimed he couldn't explain the reasoning behind Apple's unwillingness to help over Bluetooth.
Apple typically prevents Bluetooth access for background apps due to the security and privacy implications involved, something that is also being taken into account in the under-development API. As the API is phone-based without using a central server, and Apple and Google has control over what data can be transmitted and received over Bluetooth over the API, this is considered to be a more private and secure method to accomplish the same contact-tracking goal, without weakening Bluetooth security too much.
The minister continued by downplaying Apple's importance in the COVID-19 fight, claiming "We consider that oversight of the healthcare system, fighting the coronavirus, is a matter for governments and not necessarily for big American companies."
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67 Comments
And what has France contributed, financially or in the means of medical supplies? I am sincerely curious, it's not a snide question.
Considering how much money France has sought from technology companies with relation to user privacy, I would not be surprised if this request is never granted.
Edit: I should add: A global response should not involve custom apps from each country.
Europe is highly connected, France alone borders 8 countries, and has direct trains to each and the UK, plus flights to a great many more. The idea that individuals passing through each region will need to download a custom app is utterly absurd, and arrogant to the reality of how the virus spread from country to country.
Opening Bluetooth access to apps running in the background would be a security disaster. It is comical that a "Digital Technology Minister" would be demanding it.
It turns out this guy has no programming or software experience. And, very limited business experience. He's never developed an app in his life. A true socialist bureaucrat appointed to help lead digital technology in France. LOL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cédric_O
I guess France could point out its reasoning to bypass the Apple-Google API which would be the natural choice, given Apple and Google account for 100% of the smartphone market. It's probably huge government being huge govenment and never losing a chance to waste taxpayer money. I'm not familiar enough with the matter to tell if the restriction is just a matter of App Store approval, use of undocumented APIs, or if it is a fundamental security limitation of iOS. In the first two cases, Apple should approve this on a case-by-case basis. As for the third case, since Apple now has an API, I guess it's doable, so we go back to the first two cases. So yeah, Apple is being boneheaded as well. Special concessions are being made everywhere due to crisis, Apple might as well do their part. Maybe have a whitelist of apps that can use the feature.