Immuni is delayed compared to initial forecasts and there are several causes: bureaucratic delays, doubts in the choice of the data collection system. Here’s everything you need to know
The release was expected for the start of Phase 2 (set for May 4) or a few days later, but for now the trail has been lost. What are we talking about? Immuni, the app chosen by Commissioner Arcuri and the task force of the Ministry of Technological Innovation and Digitization as a contact tracing system to monitor those infected by Covid-19 and nip new outbreaks in the bud.
Contact tracing is the model that most countries are following to be able to lighten the lockdown and get the economy going. Also because at the moment it is the only one that ensures both privacy and reliability of results. Immuni was chosen from more than 300 proposals received to the call opened by the Ministry and until the end was in competition with a dozen other similar systems and apps. In the end, the app developed by Bending Spoons prevailed, and many hoped that after a brief testing phase (the Commissioner’s choice was made on April 16), Immuni would be ready for May 4. But this was not the case and the arrival was postponed to the end of May. What happened during this period? What were the causes of the delay?
Why the Immuni app is delayed
The choice of Immuni has created much debate among privacy experts and more generally in the world of computing and programming. Right from the start, people wondered how Immuni would work and what was the system chosen to save data. Discussions that have led to inevitable delays that are still going on until today. What is the reason of the dispute?
To understand what is being discussed, it is necessary first to explain briefly how Immuni works. The application is based on contact tracing: if two people come into contact for a couple of minutes, the smartphones exchange an identification code. Everything happens through Bluetooth Low Energy, present on most smartphones, but not on all. The code exchanged between smartphones is anonymous and does not allow people to be identified. Also, Bluetooth was chosen because it does not allow people to be geolocated, which a GPS-based system would have done. When a person turns out to be infected, he or she enters the positivity on the app and all the people they have come in contact with receive a notification, with the day of the encounter. However, without indicating the name of the person.
This in short and in a very simplified way is how the Immuni app works. The development of the app got stuck in the choice of the system for saving data. There were two positions: centralized system, with the contact log saved on an ad hoc server, or decentralized system, with the log saved on individual smartphones of users. In the end, it was decided to opt for the second system, considered more secure, especially at the level of privecy.
To all these problems, a new one has been added: the decision of Apple and Google to work on APIs and on a contact tracing system integrated directly into the iOS and Android operating systems. In these days have been published the APIs that the various software houses can use to integrate their applications within the operating systems. In this way, the development of contact tracing apps by the various nations is simplified. This, however, has done nothing but slow down even more the development and the start of the first tests.
In addition, the government has decided to involve Sogei (Società generale d’informatica), owned by the Ministry of the Economy, and PagoPa, the system developed by AgID for payments in the public administration, in the project. The involvement was necessary to ensure that all data collected by Immuni remain the property of the State and will be deleted at the end of the epidemic.
When Immuni arrives
Now let’s try to give a sensible answer to the question: when does Immuni arrive? Saying random dates is counterproductive and misleading, especially not to create false hope in the public. For this reason we rely on the words of Commissioner Arcuri: Immuni will be available by the end of May. Probably once all technical issues are resolved, a quick testing phase will start and the app will be available for everyone.
Where to download Immuni
Immuni will be free and can be downloaded from the Google Play Store and the App Store. The app should be compatible with most devices, at least with all smartphones that integrate a Bluetooth LE sensor.
Will Immuni be effective?
For Immuni to be effective it must be downloaded by at least 60-70% of the population. This is what Minister Paolo Pisano reported and has also been confirmed by several experts in the field. The problems are two: will Italians download Immuni (remember that there is no obligation to use the app)? How many smartphones are compatible with the app in Italy? Unfortunately there is no exact answer to the second question. It is estimated that about 70% of the Italian population has a smartphone, but there are no official data.