Realignment to Luca Pay
Luca app deletes user data from the pandemic
05/04/2022 07:06
The Luca app is repeatedly criticized for data protection reasons. However, as part of a repositioning, all centrally stored user data from the corona pandemic will now be deleted. At the same time, the app is launching the Luca Pay payment service in several German cities.
According to the makers of the Luca app, they have deleted all data from the Luca system that has been recorded and stored in encrypted form since the contact tracing application was launched during the corona pandemic. This was announced by the managing director of the operating company Patrick Hennig in Berlin. The data is only stored and visible locally on the users’ smartphones, said Hennig. “Luca has no access to it,” he explained.
The deletion of the data from the Luca system is part of a repositioning of the Luca app as a digitization service and payment application for the catering trade. On Wednesday, Culture4Life GmbH launched a service in Hamburg, Berlin and Rostock that guests can use to pay their bills without cash. Restaurant visitors scan a QR code at their table and see their bill in the app, which can then be paid via smartphone. Further digital services such as the acceptance of vouchers or integration into cash register systems are being developed and will follow soon, said Hennig. Luca Pay is to be financed through transaction fees, which amount to 0.5 percent of sales plus 5 cents for each payment transaction.
The creators of the Luca app had previously raised 30 million euros in a round of financing to convert the application and implement the new business model. This includes the Berlin-based venture capitalist Target Global, which has close ties to Russia. Most recently, the largest shareholder there was Roman Abramovich, a confidante of Putin.
With the new offer, Culture4Life competes against industry giants such as PayPal or Deutsche Telekom. Telekom is cooperating with the start-up Enfore of the series founder Marco Börries.
The Luca app was launched in 2020 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 Luca system has repeatedly been the subject of severe criticism. The Luca skeptics were particularly bothered by the concept of central data storage. Critics such as the Chaos Computer Club warned against misuse of the data collected via the Luca system. According to Hennig, these databases are no longer available on the Luca servers.