Along with several partners, SAP has been developing the “Corona-Warn-App” – Germany’s official mobile solution for contact tracing. The app is meant to help limit the spread of COVID-19 by anonymously tracking who users come into contact with and alerting them when one of these users has tested positive. Collaborators like Deutsche Telekom have focused on a scalable backend service for these applications, while SAP’s role is to develop the iOS and Android applications.

The first open source documents were available on May 13, 2020 and the first code drop followed soon after. At the time we conducted this interview, the Corona-Warn-App is purportedly a few days to being released publicly. 

We’re fortunate to be in touch with Thomas Klingbeil, Senior Developer at SAP and part of the application’s project team. Together with Thomas, we explore features of the app and their rationale (such as Bluetooth Low Energy and how it can be used for contact tracing) as well as spotlight topics, particularly the privacy-preserving nature of the overall Corona-Warn-App system. 

Links

• Official Corona-Warn-App Website
• Corona-Warn-App Open Source Code Repository at GitHub
• English FAQs for the Corona-Warn-App
• Apple - Information on Privacy-Preserving Contact Tracing
• Google - Information about Exposure Notifications
• Exposure Notification Bluetooth Specification (PDF)
• Exposure Notification Cryptography Specification (PDF)
• Corona-Warn-App Solution Architecture
• Risk Score Calculation
• [GERMAN] Code Review 1
• [GERMAN ] Code Review 2

Related News

• SAP CTO Juergen Mueller - The Technical Foundation of the Corona-Warn-App 
• [GERMAN] SAP News Interview with Eyk Kny and Thomas Klingbeil
• [GERMAN] Corona-Warn-App FAQ at tagesschau.de
• [VIDEO] DW Business Top Stories - Germany's Virus-Tracing App (19.05.2020)
• [VIDEO] DW Business Top Stories - France's Stop COVID-19 App (01.06.2020)
• National Cyber Security Centre UK - The security behind the NHS contact tracing app