https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20200616/02312044720/privacy-concerns-lead-to-deletion-all-data-collected-norways-contact-tracing-app.shtml > In the early days of the coronavirus outbreak -- a few months ago, in other words -- there was a flurry of activity around contact tracing apps. Desperate to be seen to be doing something -- anything -- governments around the world rushed to announced their own digital solutions to tracing people who have been in the proximity of infected individuals. There are now over 40 in various stages of development. After the initial excitement, it's striking how quiet things have gone on the contact tracing front, as projects struggle to turn politicians' promises into useful programs. Some of the apps are beginning to emerge now, and we're likely to hear more about them over the next few weeks and months. For example, there's been an interesting development in Norway, one of the first to release its smartphone app, Smittestopp ("infection stop"), back in April. As the Guardian reports: > On Friday, the [Norwegian] data agency Datatilsynet issued a warning that it would stop the Norwegian Institute of Public Health from handling data collected via Smittestopp.