> What is worth noting is why Germany changed their approach:
> > Germany as recently as Friday backed a centralized standard called Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT), which would have needed Apple in particular to change the settings on its iPhones. When Apple refused to budge there was no alternative but to change course, said a senior government source.
> This is exactly what I was driving at in Coronavirus Clarity: tech companies are the ones setting the rules, not governments.
I can't read that article without an account but the quotes imply that only Apple was standing in the way of the centralized approach. Did Germany have a centralized contact tracing solution through Android?
Is there more context that might imply that Google wasn't playing ball?
iOS has more restrictions than Android regarding Bluetooth use by applications in the background. Germany may have needed Apple to change those restrictions while Android already provided the access they needed.
> Germany had been in line with NHSX, but its government announced on Sunday it had switched tack to a "strongly decentralised approach".
Today's Stratechery (https://stratechery.com/2020/more-on-apple-and-google-german...):
> What is worth noting is why Germany changed their approach:
> > Germany as recently as Friday backed a centralized standard called Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT), which would have needed Apple in particular to change the settings on its iPhones. When Apple refused to budge there was no alternative but to change course, said a senior government source.
> This is exactly what I was driving at in Coronavirus Clarity: tech companies are the ones setting the rules, not governments.