corona pandemic
Luca app changes business model and lowers prices
The Luca app icon can be seen on a smartphone. Photo: Christoph Soeder/dpa/Illustration
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Of the 13 federal states that use the Luca app to contain the corona pandemic, one has already terminated. A number of other countries could follow. The providers do not want to give up without a fight.
The makers of the controversial Luca app to combat the corona pandemic have made concessions to the federal states in the ongoing negotiations for a contract extension.
The countries no longer have to commit to using the Luca system for a full year, but can decide month by month whether the health authorities can use the Luca data, the operating company Cultur4Life announced on Monday in Berlin.
At the same time, the Luca makers halved the costs: in future, 9,000 euros per year will be due per health department instead of the previous 18,000 euros. This means that the infrastructure and software of the Luca system can be retained, said Culture4Life Managing Director Patrick Hennig of the German Press Agency.
The Luca app was launched a good year ago with great expectations 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. However, the system has repeatedly been the subject of fierce criticism.
Central data storage under criticism
Luca skeptics are particularly bothered by the concept of central data storage. They also doubt that the Luca system can actually support the health authorities effectively. The contracts with 13 federal states (all except Saxony, Thuringia and North Rhine-Westphalia) have so far had an annual volume of 20 million euros including VAT.
So far, of the 13 Luca contracting countries, only Schleswig-Holstein has given notice of termination in writing. However, there are indications that federal states such as Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Brandenburg and Bremen are also about to terminate the contract.
Hennig explained that, so that health protection continues to be served to the maximum, Luca wants to give the federal states the flexibility to use the system whenever they need it. “Luca will maintain the basic supply with the Luca technology in every federal state in the long term and give each federal state the opportunity to use the system at any time as required for virtually any period of time.” Corresponding information has already been sent to the federal states.
At the same time, Luca wants to position himself more strongly as a digitization partner for the gastronomy and cultural sectors. In this way, Luca could become the one-stop solution for presenting a ticket, vaccination status and any proof of testing that may be required.