France Renames Failing StopCovid App to TousAntiCovid to Revive Adoption
The French government rebrands its underperforming contact-tracing app as TousAntiCovid in hopes of increasing user engagement. Despite the new name and interface, the core tracking technology remains the same.
France renames its struggling contact-tracing application from StopCovid to TousAntiCovid, which translates to "everyone against Covid." The government introduces this new name and updated user interface to encourage more citizens to download and use the software, hoping to distance the product from its previous lackluster performance.
Despite the fresh branding, the core functionality of the app remains entirely unchanged. TousAntiCovid still relies on the centralized ROBERT protocol and Bluetooth Low Energy to exchange ephemeral IDs with nearby users, requiring individuals to manually enter a QR code or alphanumeric string if they test positive for the virus.
The rebranding becomes necessary because the original app fails to gain meaningful traction. Although nearly 2.8 million people activate the app over four months, only 13,651 users report positive tests, resulting in a mere 823 exposure notifications, proving that the software has little practical impact on stemming the spread of the virus.