FAQ

Questions about Corona Science and the App


The aim of the Corona Science project is to make available as quickly as possible a collection of anonymized/aggregated health and symptom data in a semantic standard defined with eHealth Suisse as Open Data. With the anonymous data made available to the public, we want to make it possible to better understand the course of the pandemic.
At present, people stay at home whenever possible and are asked to only contact doctors or emergency rooms when necessary. As a result, many people are not tested for COVID-19 and the actual number of people who fall ill is unknown. Our app will help to obtain better data in this situation. For example, analyses of the Corona Science data can provide more knowledge about the progression of the disease, identify local outbreaks, show the emotional strain on the population during and after the lockdown and help on planning exit strategies.
The app is aimed at the entire population - both healthy and sick people.
The Corona Science app regularly asks users about typical symptoms of the COVID-19 disease, such as coughing or loss of smell. Besides data on the coronavirus, the app also collects other information about people’s mood and the extra stress they are feeling as a result of the lockdown. It asks, for instance, about working at home, reduced work hours or childcare, and includes further questions relating to measures against the pandemic.
You have no direct benefit from your data donation. However, you can make an active contribution to fighting this pandemic. Your anonymous data will help health care planners, epidemiologists and experts to get the pandemic under control. The app also provides links to further information and help. The app can play out current recommendations to users via push notification.
You will be asked to enter data as continuously as possible. Longitudinal data will be collected. In the app, a push message can be set as reminder if desired.
The Corona Science app is not a contact-tracing app. It is not intended to identify contact persons, but rather to provide urgently needed data on people’s wellbeing and the progression of the disease.


Questions on data protection and data storage


Your data is stored in Switzerland on your personal user account of the MIDATA platform. You always have full control over your data. Your data is encrypted. Nobody, not even MIDATA cooperative, has access to your data. For more information, visit: www.midata.coop
The data are not analysed by the Corona Science team itself but is made available to all interested parties in anonymised and aggregated form – in line with the ‘open data’ principle. It can be used by epidemiologists, researchers or care planners for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The MIDATA Cooperative operates a highly secure and privacy compliant platform and supports data-driven research through patient empowerment and "Citizen Science" approaches. The MIDATA platform provides a personal and secure environment to encrypt and store the data collected by Corona Science in Switzerland. Furthermore, the app is integrated into the MIDATA content management system. Users have personal, encrypted data accounts. The data can only be used with the explicit consent of the account holder. This also applies to use in anonymised/aggregated form.
No one. Your data belongs to you, is only visible to you and you have full control over it. The data is not analysed by the Corona Science team itself but is made available anonymously and aggregated to all interested parties - in accordance with the open data principle.
Your collected data is aggregated anonymously and made available to the Open Data Community with your consent. No conclusions about your person can be drawn from the anonymous data. The anonymised data will be published here as soon as enough data sets have been collected. This ensures the anonymity of the participants.
You have full control over your data at all times. You can therefore terminate your consent to share the anonymised data with the Open Data Community at any time. You can also delete your account.
The app is published by the Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH, Institute for Medical Informatics I4MI. The data is stored in personal, encrypted data accounts of the non-profit cooperative MIDATA.