Her name is Luca. A human first name, which reassures. It can be seen inscribed at the entrance to restaurants and bars in Germany. More than 35 million people use its services in this country of 83 million people. But the most downloaded tracking application across the Rhine, supposed to register customers and ensure the protection of their data, has seen a serious crisis of confidence since it was used for police purposes.
Despite the law
The case that has just come to light dates back to November 29, 2021: a man had a fatal fall leaving a restaurant in Mainz, in the west of the country. To find possible witnesses, the local police decided to use the application. In principle, only health services are authorized to have access to personal data. Nevertheless, the police resorted to it by asking one of them to pretend that there was a positive case in this restaurant.
→ ANALYSIS. Covid-19: the vaccine obligation called into question in Germany
“The present case is serious because the legal ban on using contact tracing data for police purposes is clearly and unequivocally enshrined in the law on infections”, which governs the German response to the Covid pandemic, estimated Tuesday January 11 in the economic daily Handelsblatt Stefan Brink, Baden-Württemberg Data Protection Commissioner.
The vaccination register under debate
The scandal does not help the Bundestag’s examination of the draft law on compulsory vaccination. One of the technical implications of this new legislative framework is precisely to create a digital register to refer to in the event of an audit, as is the case in Austria. “This exacerbates fears that were already there, well anchored, but which had gradually faded over the course of the pandemic, faced with the responsibility to protect each other”, comments historian Hélène Miard-Delacroix, professor at the Sorbonne University, specialist in contemporary Germany and Franco-German relations.
The Germans have developed a constantly reactivated hypersensitivity, in connection with their private space. The trauma dates back to the Nazi dictatorship, whose aspiration was to capture the whole of the individual. In the East, the extra-surveillance of the Stasi security services – including the state of health – has left a lasting mark on people’s minds. And in the West during the lead years, anti-terrorism provisions raised fears of the return of a police state. Added to this is the listening business of the American ally, which has repeatedly hit the headlines in Germany.
Germany, country of digital backwardness
There is mistrust within the SPD itself. The principle of a digital vaccination register, defended by the German Ethics Council, was thus rejected by the Federal Minister of Health, the Social Democrat Karl Lauterbach. The President of the Bundestag, Bärbel Bas, for her part, defends the creation of a centralized directory. In the opposition, on the left, health expert Kathrin Vogler advocates random checks.
→ EXPLANATION. Health pass: are our personal data safe?
The return of data protection concerns might well thwart the plans of Olaf Scholz’s government. “This case risks colliding with the data digitization ambitions of the country which has some catching up to do in this area”, says Hélène Miard-Delacroix. In its coalition contract, the executive in fact aims to “Complete digitization of the administration” for “Make life easier for citizens”. It is still necessary to do it without awakening the most painful memories of a still vivid past.
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