SwissCovid

About SwissCovid

SwissCovid is the official contact tracing app of Switzerland and is operated by the Federal Office of Public Health FOPH.

SwissCovid will help to contain the new coronavirus. It complements the conventional contact tracing carried out by the cantons – and thus helps to break the chains of transmission.

Using the SwissCovid app is voluntary and free of charge. The more people who install and use the app, the more effectively the app can help us to contain the new coronavirus.

However, we must all continue to comply with the rules on hygiene and social distancing. With a combination of the SwissCovid app, contact tracing and complying with the rules, we can continue to keep the new coronavirus effectively in check.

Minimum technical requirements:
To use the app, the Android 6 operating system or newer must be installed on the smartphone.
Details of the version of the operating system can be found under Settings > About phone > Software information > Android version

How does the SwissCovid app work?
Install the SwissCovid app on your smartphone. All you then need to do is switch on Bluetooth and carry your phone at all times. The smartphone transmits encrypted IDs, known as checksums, via Bluetooth. These are long random strings of characters. Each checksum is deleted automatically from your phone two weeks after it is generated.

The app anonymously measures how long and how close it is to other smartphones that have the app installed. It records any encounters that it has with other phones (closer than 1,5 metres and for longer than 15 minutes in any one day), as these are the situations in which you are most likely to become infected with the virus.

How notification works
If a SwissCovid app user tests positive for the coronavirus, the cantonal authorities issues them with a code (the Covidcode). The code allows them to activate the notification function in their app. This warns other app users that have had an encounter with the infected person in the period starting two days before that person first experienced symptoms of the disease). When the code is entered, the app notifies these other app users automatically and anonymously.

The people who have been notified can then call the infoline number in the app and find out what to do next. Their privacy is maintained at all times. If a person who has been notified has already developed symptoms of the disease, they should stay at home, avoid contact with other people, and do the coronavirus check or call their doctor.

By working together in this way, we can all help to break the chains of infection.

Protecting privacy
The data that your SwissCovid app collects are stored locally on your smartphone. The phone does not send any personal or location data to a central storage location or server. This means that no one can work out who you have been in contact with or where that contact took place. Once the coronavirus crisis is over, or if the app proves to be ineffective, the system will be shut down.

The use of the app is limited to Switzerland and is subject to Swiss law.