At first Germany was feted for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The first wave was weathered comparatively well, the government seemed to be acting fast and decisively, and the country’s contact tracing app, while far from perfect, was popular and privacy friendly.

That changed quickly. As the second wave got out of control, there was panic by the public and politicians. They look for a new panacea against the virus, endorsing yet another contact tracing app. But this one carried far more risks.

On this episode of SpeechBag, we talk to Christian Thoennes, the author of a new report on lessons learned from Germany’s developments of two contact tracing apps. Orsi Reich, a senior advocacy officer at Liberties, also joins to discuss how people and politicians alike reacted to the developments.