Status: 04.05.2022 08:28 a.m
According to the company, all user data has been deleted from the servers of the Luca app. Experts had previously warned that simply deleting the app was not enough for the data to disappear completely.
According to their own statements, the developers of the Luca app have deleted all data from the Luca system that has been recorded and stored in encrypted form since the contact tracing application was launched during the corona pandemic. This was shared by the managing director of the operating company, Patrick Hennig.
The data is only stored and visible locally on the users’ smartphones. “Luca has no access to it,” said Henning, according to the dpa news agency.
Privacy advocates: Delete the account first, then the app
Experts had previously advised not to simply delete the app from your phone. Before the app disappears in the digital recycle bin, you should first delete the account, advised privacy advocate Thomas Fuchs. Only then can you be sure that the personal data really does disappear from the server.
The Luca system had repeatedly been the subject of fierce criticism. The Luca skeptics were particularly bothered by the concept of central data storage. Critics such as the Chaos Computer Club warned against misuse of the data collected via the Luca system. According to Hennig, these databases are no longer available on the Luca servers.
Luca app becomes a payment application
The deletion of the data from the Luca system is part of a reorientation of the Luca app as a digitization service and payment application for the catering industry. The company launched a service in Hamburg, Berlin and Rostock that guests can use to pay their bills without cash.
Restaurant visitors scan a QR code at their table and see their bill in the app, which can then be paid via smartphone. Further digital services such as the acceptance of vouchers or integration into cash register systems are being developed and will follow soon, said Hennig.
Luca has to compete with PayPal and Telekom
The app, called Luca Pay, is to be financed by transaction fees, which amount to 0.5 percent of sales plus 5 cents for each payment transaction. The creators of the Luca app had previously raised 30 million euros in a round of financing to convert the application and implement the new business model.
With the new offer, the company behind the app, Culture4Life, is competing against industry giants such as PayPal and Deutsche Telekom.
The Luca app was launched in 2020 in order to collect the contact details of restaurant guests and event visitors, as required by most infection protection regulations, in a data protection-friendly and efficient manner.