Italy’s coronavirus tracing app begins trial with 2 million downloads

By Rebecca Ann Hughes • Published: 08 Jun 2020 • 9:21

ON Monday, Italy’s Covid-19 contact tracing app, named Immuni, started trials in four regions in the country.

The app has been available to download since June 1 for an experimental week. The app is intended to be in use nationwide by June 15.

Special Commissioner for the Coronavirus Emergency Domenico Arcuri said, “The app has been downloaded by two million Italians.”

Arcuri commented that the app is “very useful” and underlined that “tracing is an essential component of this phase.”

From June 8, four regions are piloting the app: Abruzzo, Liguria, Marche and Puglia. Users will trial the contact tracing function, which has been given the go-ahead from the Italian Data Protection Authority.

The Immuni app has not been without its problems, both technical and legal. There are still issues with compatibility with some makes of smartphone, which will reportedly be resolved in the coming days.

After concerns over privacy, the app will now function without recording movements or knowing the identity of the user.

Some regions, such as the Veneto and Fruili Venezia Giulia, have been sceptical of the app’s usefulness, but Governor of the Marche region Luca Ceriscoli called it, “another weapon to fight Covid and contain the virus.”