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Frequently Asked Questions and Answers about the app

Q&A about the app. We will continuously update the Q&As.

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Why we have the smitte|stop app

The smitte|stop app is a digital contact tracing app that can help all of us prevent COVID-19 from spreading.

In the app, you can easily notify persons that you have been in close contact with if you test positive for COVID-19, and the app can help break chains of infection. The app is a digital supplement to other measures aimed at controlling the spread of infection in society, such as isolation of infected persons, general advice on hygiene and distancing as well as regular contact tracing.

How can the app help to stop the spread of coronavirus/COVID-19?

Coronavirus/COVID-19 is a highly contagious virus. If you have been in close contact with a person infected with COVID-19, there may be a risk that you have also been infected.

With the app, you will receive an alert if an app user you have come in close contact with reports a positive test result. The faster you know, the quicker you are aware of the need to follow the health authorities’ recommendations and you would have prevented the spread of COVID-19 if you yourself should test positive.

As COVID-19 can spread in the very early phase of infection, before symptoms appear, it is essential that you quickly comply with the health authorities’ advice and guidance if you have been exposed to COVID-19 in order to stop the spread.

In the app, you will also be notified if you have been in close contact with persons you do not know, but who have tested positive and choose to share this in the app. These are persons who would not otherwise be able to notify you by means of regular contact tracing. If you have been in close contact with them on public transport, in cafés, restaurants, etc.

With the app, you can only notify other users of the app. It is therefore important that you also contact family members, friends, co-workers etc. that you have been in close contact with if you test positive for COVID-19.

How many people must download smitte|stop before it has an effect?

Each individual chain of infection that is broken using the app helps prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Denmark. The more people who download and use the app, the more people will receive an alert in the app if they have been in close contact with a person infected with COVID-19.

Smitte|stop is an important contact tracing tool but its success depends on the number of people downloading and using the app for it to effectively prevent the spread of COVI-19.

Who can download the app?

You can download and use smitte|stop if you have a phone that meets the following criteria:

  • iPhones must be updated to minimum version iOS 13.5. If your phone has not been updated, you will be notified that you need to update your operating system when you try to download the app.
  • Phones with the Android operating system must be updated to minimum version 6, must support Google Play Store and have Google Play services installed (minimum version 20.13.xx).

Smitte|stop can only be used on fairly new and up-to-date phones because the app is based on technology from Google and Apple that only works in the latest versions of the operating systems. This also means that unfortunately you cannot use the app if you have an older phone that cannot be updated to the latest versions of the operating systems. For iPhones, this means that iPhone 6s is the oldest model on which the app can run.

You can download and use the app on several phones if, for example, you have a work phone. If you wish to share your positive test result with others, you can do so on up to three different phones.

If you do not have NemID, you cannot use the app to notify those you have been in close contact with if you test positive for COVID-19. If you only wish to receive alerts if you yourself have been in close contact with a person who has been infected with COVID-19, you do not need to have NemID to use the app.

How do I get started using the app?

You download and start using the app by following these four steps:

  1. Download the smitte|stop app in App Store or Google Play Store. To download the app, you must have updated the operating system of your phone to the latest version.
  2. The first time you open the app, you must accept that information about other app users that you have been in close contact is stored on your phone.
  3. You must also accept that the app uses Google’s and Apple’s technology for ‘COVID-19 Exposure Logging’.
  4. Your phone will now register which other app users you have been in close contact with, without you being able to see who they are. You do not need to have the app open for the contact tracing to work. The app works in the background.

    The app is a digital supplement to the public health authorities’ other initiatives aimed at preventing the spread of infection. This means that even if you download and use the app, you still need to follow the Danish Health Authority’s recommendations on good hygiene and distancing etc. Read more about the advice on: https://www.sst.dk/en/English.

How do I report if I test positive for COVID-19?

If you have tested positive for COVID-19, you can use the app to share the information with other app users you have been in close contact with. You do so by following these steps:

  1. Tap "Positive test result?" on the start screen of the app, and you will then be asked to sign in using NemID.
  2. You must log in with NemID to confirm that you have tested positive. Logging in with NemID ensures that only persons who have tested positive can share the information in the app, and not persons who merely suspect that they have been infected.
  3. You will be asked whether you have had symptoms of COVID-19 and when they started. The app uses the information to calculate which other users need to be notified that they have been at an increased risk of infection by having been in close contact with you in the period in which you may have been infectious. This is vital information, as COVID-19 is particularly infectious during the first days after the onset of symptoms.
  4. Finally, you will be asked if you want to share the random IDs your phone has sent out in the past 14 days. If you consent, the persons that you have been in close contact with will receive an alert in the app saying they have been in close contact with a person infected with COVID-19 and that they may have been infected. They must then comply with the health authorities’ recommendations for testing etc.

Remember that you can only use this app to help stop the spread of infection among other users of the app. It is therefore important that you also contact family members, friends etc. that you know you have been in close contact with if you test positive for COVID-19. Read more in the pamphlet ‘What to do if you test positive for novel coronavirus’.

How does my phone calculate whether I have been so close to an infected person that there is a risk I may have been infected myself?

You will receive a notification in the app if you have been in close contact with a person infected with COVID-19 in the period in which the infected person could have passed on the infection to you.

You will most likely receive a notification in the app if your contact with a person fulfilled the criteria defined by the Danish Health Authority:

  1. You have been in contact with the infected person for more than 15 minutes.
  2. The distance between you was less than around one meter.
  3. The contact occurred within the period in which the infected person is expected to be infectious, i.e. within two days before and until eight days after the symptoms started (or that the person was tested if the person has not hadsymptoms.

What should I do if I am notified in the app that I have been in close contact with a person infected with COVID-19?

If you receive an alert in smitte|stop that you have been in close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19, you should be tested as soon as possible, also if you have no symptoms. You cannot know whether you have been infected until you have been tested. Therefore, you must act as if you were infected until you have had the result of your test.

Until you receive the test result, you should:

  1. Self-isolate
  2. Practise good hygiene
  3. Make sure to clean thoroughly
  4. Be alert to whether you show possible symptoms of COVID-19.

How do I self-isolate?

Self-isolation guidance:

  • Stay at home, that is in your own home or in your own garden so that you do not risk coming into close contact with other people. Do not go to work or public areas, not even to go shopping etc. Ask others to do your shopping for you, take your dog for a walk etc. If you order food and other essentials for home delivery, make sure that deliveries are left outside your front door. Do not allow visitors to enter your home. Use the phone or video calls instead. It is particularly important to avoid all contact with people who are at risk of severe illness from COVID-19 (see sst.dk/corona).

    In many communities, local initiatives have been launched to support those in need. Check to see if such support is available in your local area. You can also contact ‘Røde Kors Corona Hjælpenetværk’ (the Red Cross Corona Help Network) on tel. 35 29 96 60 or visit rodekors.dk/corona/hjælp.

  • Avoid close physical contact with other members of your household. This is particularly important if you live with someone who is at risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

    Avoid close physical contact such as kissing and hugging and keep a distance of at least two metres.

    Avoid sleeping together and avoid spending too long in the same room. Ideally use a separate toilet/bathroom. If you only have one toilet/bathroom, you should make sure to clean all surfaces after use, e.g. by disinfecting toilet seats, basins and taps before they are used by other members of your household.

    If a member of your family has been infected with novel coronavirus and the other family members are close contacts, it can be difficult to limit the contact. The most important thing in this situation is to limit contact with the infected person and to keep a distance of minimum two metres. Other household members must limit their contact and keep a distance from each other to the extent possible. Pay extra attention to good and thorough hygiene and cleaning (read more about this below).

    If you live with a child, the child will need care and contact, including hugs and comfort. This is more important than keeping your distance if no one else can take care of the child. In this situation, you should take care of the child as you would normally do, but you should pay special attention to good hygiene and keep a close eye on whether the child develops symptoms.

What does practising good hygiene involve?

Practising good hygiene means:

  • Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and water, or use hand sanitiser if you do not have access to soap and water. Using hand sanitiser is as effective as washing your hands, but we recommend that you wash your hands if they are visibly dirty or wet, after toilet visits, after changing nappies and before handling food.
  • Hand hygiene is especially important after toilet visits, after blowing your nose and before cooking. It is important to use a moisturiser to prevent dry hands and reduce the risk of developing eczema.
  • Avoid touching your face in as far as possible. Cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue or into your elbow. Place used disposable tissues in a rubbish bag and tie securely.
  • Do not share towels with other people.

What does cleaning thoroughly involve?

Cleaning frequently and thoroughly means:

  • The room(s) you spend time in while ill should be cleaned daily. Use ordinary cleaning agents. It is particularly important that you clean points of contact as well as objects and surfaces that are touched by many members of the household, such as handles, hand rails, switches, keyboards, computer mice, armrests, the edges of tables, toys, taps, toilets etc.

Why do I need to be tested?

We know that when you have been very close to someone infected with COVID-19, there is an increased risk that you have been infected yourself. Most people infected with COVID-19 develop symptoms within one to 14 days of having been exposed to the virus. Many will develop symptoms of infection after 5-7 days.

There is an increased risk of infecting others in the days just before developing symptoms and before you realise that you are infected. Therefore, it is recommended that you be tested twice and that you self-isolate in the period up to the first negative test result. This provides the best possible prevention of the spread of infection.

It is therefore important that you are tested to know whether you are infected and need to remain in self-isolation.

How do I get tested?

When you are notified in the app that you have been in close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19, you must contact Coronaopsporing (Corona Tracking), which is a unit under the Danish Patient Safety Authority, which can refer you for testing.

Coronaopsporing contact information: Tel. + 45 32 32 05 11.

Once you have been referred for testing, go to coronaprover.dk (choose ‘In English’) and book appointments for two tests. You need your NemID to log in and book an appointment.

Book appointment for two tests:

  1. Test 1: Book an appointment for the first test as soon as possible after you have received an alert in smitte|stop.
  2. Test 2: Book an appointment for the second test two days after the first test.

Make sure to wear a face mask if you need to break your self-isolation to travel from your home to the testing station and back again. You can read more about the use of face masks in the Danish Health Authority’s leaflet on use of face masks (choose ‘Engelsk’ for English version).

If you are unsure about how and when to book an appointment for a test, please contact Coronaopsporing(Corona Tracking) on tel. + 45 32 32 05 11 for guidance.

Should children also be tested?

Most children develop only mild symptoms of COVID-19, but children should generally follow the same recommendations as adults. Children should therefore also be isolated at home and be tested just like adults.

Children may attend their childcare institution/school if their first test is negative and they still do not have symptoms. Children who have tested positive should not attend their school/childcare institution. Please read the leaflet What to do if you test positive for novel coronavirus (choose ‘Engelsk’ for English version).

You may choose not to have your children under the age of 12 tested who are close contacts and who do not have any symptoms, as the test can be an uncomfortable experience for them. Instead, you can choose to keep them at home for seven days after they were last in close contact with an infected person. If a child has not had symptoms during seven days, he or she may again attend school/daycare institution. If the child develops symptoms of COVID-19, he or she should remain at home until 48 hours after there are no longer any symptoms.

What do I do when I get the test result?

If your first test result is negative and you do not have any symptoms of COVID-19, you no longer have to stay at home. You can go back to school, go shopping, or go to work.

Even though your first test is negative, it is important that you also take test no. 2, as it increases the certainty that the negative result is correct.

You should be particularly alert to possible symptoms of COVID-19 for a period of 14 days after having been in close contact with the infected person – even if you have tested negative. If you develop symptoms of COVID-19, it is important that you stay at home until you have recovered completely – that is for at least 48 hours after your symptoms go away.

If one of your tests is positive for COVID-19, you must continue to stay at home and read more about what to do in the Danish Health Authority’s information material What to do if you test positive for novel coronavirus (choose ‘Engelsk’ for English version).

How precisely can the app assess the risk of infection?

Bluetooth technology can only measure on distance and time and is, moreover, connected with some uncertainty. Therefore, the app cannot register all types of close contacts. For example, a brief hug can involve a risk of infection even if the app does not register it as a close contact.

In addition, the success of smitte|stop depends on how many persons have downloaded and are using the app, and on how many people choose to share their positive test result if they test positive.

Therefore, you may have been infected with COVID-19 by a person not registered by your phone. Even though you use the app, you must therefore always pay attention to any symptoms of COVID-19 and comply with the National Health Authority’s recommendations for good hygiene and distancing.

The app cannot detect if you use personal protective equipment as protection against infection such as masks or face shields. If you work in the healthcare sector, where you have many physical contacts, but you use the prescribed personal protective equipment, there is consequently a lower risk that you have been infected even if you have been in close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19.

Can children use the app?

Yes, children can download and use the app if they have a phone that meets the requirements.

Children aged under 15 cannot use the app to notify persons that they have been in close contact with if they become infected because this requires login with NemID. But children can be notified if they have been in close contact with a person infected with COVID-19.

Parents are recommended to talk to their children about whether they should download the app and how to act if the app notifies them that they have been in close contact with a person who has tested positive. If a child aged under 12 is notified of the risk of infection, the child does not necessarily need to be tested. Read more about the Danish Health Authority’s recommendations for testing children aged under 12 who are close contacts in the leaflet ‘What to do if you are a close contact of a person who has tested positive for novel coronavirus’ (choose ‘Engelsk’ for English version).

Can I inactivate the app?

Yes, you can always choose to change your status in the app to inactive. When the app is inactive, your phone no longer registers other phones near you.

You can always choose to change your status in the app back to Active, and your phone will then again start registering emitted IDs from other phones near you.

If your phone is switched off, if you switch off Bluetooth or disable the ‘COVID-19 Exposure Logging’ feature in the settings of your phone, it will not register whether you are in close contact with other users of the app.

Can I choose not to receive push notifications from the app?

Yes. If you do not want to receive push notifications from the app, you can disable them in the settings of your phone.

You can still access the app to see whether you have been notified that you have been in close contact with a person infected with COVID-19.

Can I still use the app if I have been infected and have shared this in the app?

If you have tested positive for COVID-19 and has shared this with other users, you can continue to use the app. This means that your phone will still register if you are in close contact with other app users. However, if you test positive, you should self-isolate and make sure you do not have close contact with other people. Read more in the leaflet ‘What to do if you test positive for novel coronavirus’ (choose ‘Engelsk’ for English version).

If you test positive several times, you can still use the app to share this with other app users.

I have tested positive, but the app cannot find my test result

There may be different reasons why the app cannot find your test result even though you have a positive test result on sundhed.dk or in the app MinSundhed:

  • If you log into the app right after you have received the test result on sundhed.dk or in the MinSundhed app, it may be because there is a delay before smitte|stop can register the positive test result. We therefore recommend that you try again later.
  • If more than 14 days have passed since you were tested, the app can no longer see your test result.
  • It may also be due to a technical error, and you are therefore recommended to try again later.

Can I use the app if I am going on holiday or if I work abroad?

Smitte|stop works across European borders. Read more here

How many times will I be notified in the app if a person that I am in daily contact with becomes infected?

The app cannot distinguish between whether you meet the same person several times on a daily basis or if you meet different persons. The reason for this is that the randomly generated IDs that the phones exchange through Bluetooth change every 10-20 minutes for privacy protection.

If you have daily contact with the same person, for example a member of your family, who tests positive for COVID-19 and chooses to share this in the app, you may receive multiple notifications of a risk of infection several days in a row. However, you will receive maximum one message per day with information about a risk of infection.

How does my phone register persons that I have been in close contact with?

Phones that have the app installed and enabled use Bluetooth technology to register other phones with the app installed that are near you. When the app has been downloaded on your phone, your phone regularly emits a radio signal via Bluetooth. This signal includes an ID, which is a series of random numbers and letters that change every 10-20 minutes. The IDs do not contain any information about your location or identity (where or who you are).

Phones on which the app has been downloaded pick up the IDs of other phones and emit their own IDs. Your phone stores IDs from the other phones that are within the Bluetooth range, and information is stored about the date of the contact, the duration of the contact and signal strength between the phones. Other phones that receive IDs emitted from your phone will store the same information. Information is only stored on your own phone, but you do not have access to see it, and no authorities have access to it.

How does the app know that I have tested positive for COVID-19?

If you have tested positive for COVID-19, you will find your test result on sundhed.dk. Once you have a positive test result, you can choose to notify other app users who have been in close contact with you that you have tested positive. To notify other app users, you need to log in to the app using NemID to confirm that you have tested positive.

Logging in with NemID is necessary to ensure that only persons who have in fact tested positive can notify other app users. Therefore, you cannot notify others if you simply suspect that you have been infected.

When you log in using NemID, a dataset is referenced that comes from the Danish Microbiology Database (MiBA), which contains information about all people in Denmark who have currently been tested. If your civil registration number (CPR number) is on the list of persons who have tested positive, an electronic confirmation will be sent to your phone. The confirmation that you have been infected is registered by the app by means of an anonymous IDand thus without the app having access to your name or civil registration number (CPR number).

If you are not found on the list of persons who have tested positive for COVID-19, you will be notified in the app that you are not be able to notify other app users. The reason for this may be that your positive test result has not yet been registered in the dataset referenced by the app or that more than 14 days have passed since you tested positive.

If I test positive, how does the app notify other users that I have been in close contact with?

If you have tested positive for COVID-19 and your phone has received an electronic confirmation of the test result from the dataset referenced by the app, you will be asked whether you want to share your emitted IDs from the past 14 days.

If you accept this, your IDs will be sent to a key database. The key database contains information about IDs for all app users who have confirmed through the app that they have tested positive. The IDs do not contain information about your identity or location (who and where you are).

Along with the IDs, the app also sends information about the time at which your COVID-19 symptoms started. You may yourself have provided information about this time in the app. It may also be that you have not had symptoms or that you cannot remember when the symptoms started. In such case, a date is used that is calculated based on your test date.

All phones on which the app has been installed regularly retrieve from the key database a list of IDs from app users who have had a positive test result. Each phone examines whether it has registered that the phone has been in contact with one of the IDs belonging to a phone of an app user who has tested positive.

If your phone has registered that you have been in contact with someone who has tested positive, the phone calculates whether you have been in so close contact with the person that there is a risk that you have been infected with COVID-19.

The phone will calculate whether there is a risk that you have been infected based on the close contact criteria defined by the Danish Health Authority, which must all have been met:

  • You have been in contact with the infected person for more than about 15 minutes.
  • The distance between you was less than around one metre.
  • The contact occurred within the period in which the person with COVID-19 is expected to be contagious, i.e. within two days before and until eight days after the symptoms started (or that the person was tested if the person has not had symptoms).

Does the app use GPS to register where I have been?

No, the app does not use location or GPS to retrieve and register information about your whereabouts.

Denmark has chosen not to use GPS technology in the app. Furthermore, one of the principles for the use of technology from Google and Apple is that it cannot be used in an app that uses GPS to register information about the users’ locations.

On Android phones, you will be asked to enable location because Bluetooth is integrated in the location module. It is important to stress that even if you accept this, the app does not have access to your location or GPS information.

What does Google and Apple’s technology entail?

Google and Apple have jointly developedBluetooth technology for phones that can be used by health authorities worldwide to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Google and Apple call the technology ‘COVID-19 Exposure Logging’.

The technology is built into the latest versions of the iOS and Android operating systems and is used as part of the smitte|stop app developed by the Danish health authorities. When you download the app, you consent to Google and Apple’s technology being used on your phone, which means that, through Bluetooth, your phone exchanges and stores information about the emitted IDs of other phones that you have been near. If you become infected with COVID-19, you can use the app to notify other users that you have been in close contact with.

Privacy has been a central focus area for Google and Apple in the development of their technology. This means that a number of technological principles aimed at protecting the citizens’ data have been implemented in the operating system and in apps that use the technology. These principles include:

  • The random IDs emitted via the Bluetooth signal are continuously replaced to ensure that they cannot be used to identify who you are or where you have been.
  • Only the public health authorities can use the technology in apps they have launched as part of the initiatives to fight COVID-19.
  • Information about the emitted IDsof other phones that you have been near is only saved on your own phone, and no users of the app and no public authorities have access to information about who you have been in close contact with.
  • It is up to each individual citizen to choose to download and use the app. A user can also disable the app or uninstall it completely.

What data does my phone register?

Your phone stores IDs from other phones that are within Bluetooth range, and information is stored about the date of the contact, the duration of the contact and signal strength between the phones. Other phones that receive IDs emitted from your phone will store the same information. Informationis only stored on your own phone, but you do not have access to see it, and no authorities have access to it. However you can see the exposure logging tool on your phone.

Smitte|stop registers and shows you the number of alerts you have received in the past 14 days saying that you have been in close contact with a person with COVID-19 and that you may therefore have been infected.

Read about the app’s processing of personal data here

What data do the public authorities have access to?

No public authorities have access to information from your phone about who has downloaded the app and who you have been in close contact with, not even if you are notified in the app that you have been in close contact with a person infected with COVID-19. The app uses technology from Google and Apple that ensures that the information is only stored on the phone and it is not possible for public authorities to access it.

The Danish Patient Safety Authority is the data controller for the app and has a dataset from the Danish Microbiology Database (MiBA) on all people in Denmark who have currently tested positive for COVID-19. When you log in using NemID because you want to notify other app users that you have been infected, a dataset from MiBA will be referenced to validate your infection status. Information about your NemID is stored for maximum 24 hours by the Danish Patient Safety Authority to ensure that you have tested positive and your civil registration number is not used for any other purposes.

If you have tested positive for novel coronavirus, you will be asked whether you want to share the IDs your phone has emitted in the past 14 days. If you accept this, your IDs will be sent to a database containing information about IDs of all the app users who have confirmed through the app that they have tested positive for novel coronavirus.

The Danish Patient Safety Authority stores IDs in the database so that other users of the app can retrieve IDs and check whether they have been in close contact with a user who has tested positive. The Danish Patient Safety Authority cannot know who you are based on the IDs, as they are randomly generated codes consisting of numbers and letters.

Read about the app’s processing of personal data here

For how long are data from the app stored?

  • Information on your phone about the IDs of other phones that you have been near is automatically erased after 14 days.
  • Information on your phone about how many times you have received a notification that you have been in close contact with a person who has tested positive for novel coronavirus is automatically erased after 14 days.
  • The Danish Patient Safety Authority stores information about randomly generated IDs for persons who have tested positive and who have consented to sharing the IDs with the app for 14 days.
  • The Danish Patient Safety Authority stores information from your NemID for 24 hours if you log in to confirm that you have tested positive. Data are stored for 24 hours to ensure that you can log in using NemID a maximum of three times in 24 hours to notify others of the risk of infection.
  • If you delete your app, all information about your phone’s contacts and random IDs will be erased. All data will also be erased if the app is no longer in use or when the Danish Government’s Act on the app is repealed.

Read about the app’s processing of personal data here

For what purposes can my data be used?

The app has only one purpose – to prevent and stop the spread of COVID-19. The app does this by notifying you if you have been in close contact with a person who has been infected with COVID-19 and who has chosen to share this in the app. The purpose of the app is stated in the Danish Government’s Act on the app, and it is therefore not legal to use information from the app for other purposes.

Your personal data will not be used to impose measures against you. This means that information collected through the app will not be used to, for example, order you to go into quarantine or be tested.

To evaluate the effect of the app, the public health authorities can see at an aggregated and anonymous level how many persons have downloaded the app and how many persons choose in the app to report a positive test result to close contacts.

The use of Google and Apple’s technology in the Danish app smitte|stop means that the public authorities do not technically have access to information from phones about who have been in close contact with each other and who are notified of a possible risk of infection.

Read about the app’s processing of personal data here

How are my data secured in the app?

We prioritise data security highly, and downloading and using smitte|stop is completely secure.

Prior to being launched, the app has undergone an extensive security test. In the security test, an internationally recognised security company has conducted a series of tests and reviews of the source codes of the app to determine what potential threats could affect data confidentiality and the accessibility of the app.

In addition, a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) of the data subjects’ rights was prepared in connection with the launch. The DPIA contains a description of the risks to the data subjects and the planned measures aimed at countering these risks.

Read the DPIA here.

Is the app’s processing of personal data within the law?

In connection with the development and launch of the app, an Act was issued on registration of and access to information about electronically registered contacts in connection with prevention and containment of infection with COVID-19. The Act has been issued in accordance with section 21 b of the Danish Act on Measures against Infectious Diseases and Other Communicable Diseases (Lov om foranstaltninger mod smitsomme og andre overførbare sygdomme). Personal data will only be used for the purposes described in the Executive Order.

In addition, a legal basis for processing the data is provided in Article 6(1)(e) and article 9(2)(i) and (g) of the General Data Protection Regulation.

Link to the Executive Order

Who is the data controller and who is the data processor for the app?

The Danish Patient Safety Authority is the data controller for the app, as it is the authority responsible for contact tracing.

The Danish Patient Safety Authority uses data processors to collect the data:

  • The Danish Agency for Digitisation acts as data processor for the Danish Patient Safety Authority in connection with the storage of your random system-generated IDs when you choose to report and share that you have tested positive in the app. The Danish Agency for Digitisation uses Netcompany as sub-processor for the processing of personal data.
  • The Danish Health Data Authority acts as a data processor for receipt of data from Statens Serum Institut and for the data registration that occurs when you log in using NemID. The Danish Health Data Authority uses Trifork as sub-processor.

The necessary data processing agreements have been entered into between the parties before the launch of the app.

Read about the app’s processing of personal data here

Can I complain about the app?

You can complain about the Danish Patient Safety Authority’s processing of personal data if you find that it is in not accordance with the description or if you find that the process is in violation of the data protection rules.

If you wish to complain, you should first contact the Danish Patient Safety Authority. We will then have an opportunity to consider your inquiry and possibly change the way in which we process your data. You may also lodge a complaint with the Danish Data Protection Agency.

The Danish Data Protection Agency is an independent authority which supervises compliance with the data protection rules in Denmark. You can find information about the Danish Data Protection Agency and on how to complain on the Agency’s website: www.datatilsynet.dk

Who has decided to develop the app?

The Danish Government decided to develop and launch a contact tracing app in connection with the reopening of Denmark in June 2020.

A political agreement was entered into between the Danish Government, Venstre (The Liberal Party of Denmark) , Radikale Venstre (The Danish Social-Liberal Party), Socialistisk Folkeparti (The Socialist People’s Party), Enhedslisten (The Red-Green Alliance), Det Konservative Folkeparti (The Conservative People’s Party, Liberal Alliance (The Liberal Alliance), Alternativet (The Alternative) and Susanne Zimmer (independent member of parliament) on the purpose of the app, solution model and principles for privacy protection.

Link to the political agreement.

Which pubic authorities are behind the app?

The Danish Ministry of Health, the Danish Patient Safety Authority, Statens Serum Institut, the Danish Health Authority and the Danish Agency for Digitisation have jointly developed the smitte|stop app as part of the public authorities’ fight against COVID-19.

Which IT companies have developed the app?

The IT supplier Netcompany has developed the smitte|stop app for the Danish health authorities and the Danish Agency for Digitisation. In addition, the IT supplier Trifork has developed the authorisation server used by the citizens to log in with NemID and validate that they have tested positive for COVID-19.

The Danish health authorities, the Danish Agency for Digitisation and Netcompany have collaborated with Google and Apple on the use of the ‘COVID-19 Exposure Logging’ technology in the Danish smitte|stop app.

Which experts have been involved in the work with the app?

The Danish Ministry of Health and the Danish Agency for Digitisation have set up a so-called Advisory Board, which has followed the work with the app. An Advisory Board consists of a number of experts who contribute with knowledge, advice and experience. In connection with the app, the selected representatives on the Advisory Board have contributed with their knowledge, advice and experience in areas such as security, privacy and choices of technology in the app.

The Advisory Board consists of five representatives:

  • Camilla Gregersen, President of the Danish Association of Masters and PhDs (DM), member of the Data Ethics Council
  • Christiane Vejlø, CEO Elektronista Media, member of the Data Ethics Council
  • Sune Lehmann, Professor at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, DTU
  • Mikkel Thorup, Professor at the Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen
  • Jacob Herbst, Chief Technical Officer in Dubex, member of the National Cyber Security Council

In addition, the health authorities and the Danish Agency for Digitisation have discussed the app with the National Cyber Security Council, the Data Ethics Council and the Danish Data Protection Agency.

Has there been collaboration with other countries and international authorities on the app?

Many countries are working to develop similar apps that can support the public authorities’ fight against COVID-19. The Danish health authorities and the Danish Agency for Digitisation are in a continuous dialogue with a number of European countries on experiences with and set-up of parameters in the app. The health authorities and the Danish Digitisation Agency are working with the EU and other European countries to ensure that contact tracing apps can be used across European borders.

Smitte|stop works across European borders. Read more here

How am I notified that I have been in close contact with a person infected with COVID-19?

If you have been in close contact with an app user who has tested positive, you will receive a push notification on your phone from the app. Read more about when you receive a push notification under the question “How does my phone calculate whether I have been so close to an infected person that there is a risk I may have been infected myself?”

In the app, you can see a list of alerts showing the number of times in the past 14 days you have been in close contact with a person who has been infected with COVID-19 and has chosen to share this in the app. The time in the alert only indicates the time at which you have been notified of the rrisk of infection, and you cannot see when you have been in close contact with the person, who the person is or the location.

The alert will contain a link to the health authorities’ current recommendations for what you should do if you have been in close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19

Will the source code of the app be made publicly available?

No, the source code of the app will not be made publicly available. The reason for this is that it will increase the risk of security breaches, as persons or organisations with malicious intentions will be able more easily to hack or otherwise attack the solution. The source code has been reviewed by an external security company, and specifications for the API from Apple and Google are publicly available. Data security is a high priority in the app, and the app has been thoroughly tested before being launched, which means that you can feel completely secure when using it.

Where can I get help if I have questions about the app?

If you have questions about the app to which you cannot find the answers here, or you experience an error or a problem in the app, you can contact sundhed.dk’s support.

Write an email to info@sundhed.dk, or call on tel. + 45 44 22 20 80.

Telephone hours are:

  • Monday-Thursday: 9.00-15.00
  • Friday: 9.30-15.00

The support service is closed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

Does the app use a lot of power?

Some users find that smitte|stop uses a lot of power in the battery of the phone. The power consumption depends on what model your phone is or how old it is, etc. You can see in the settings of your phone how much battery power the app uses relative to other apps and features on your phone. We are in a dialogue with Google and Apple, as they can optimise the power consumption of the app.

I get an error message saying the area for exposure notifications has changed

We are aware of this error message, which may occur if you are near a foreign network or are in an area with a poor network.

Apple has stated that the app still works even if you get the error message, but if you want to be absolutely sure, you can search on either ‘covid’ or ‘smittestop’ in the settings of your phone. Select COVID-19 Exposure Notifications. and check that logging is enabled and active.

The error has been corrected in iOS 13.6.1 and you can solve the problem by updating your operating system to iOS 14.6.1 or newer versions.