Contact Tracing Apps

The content of this post is available in PDF for download here: 1. Chronology of events During the last month, i.e. since the focus has increased on the incidence of the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to personal data protection, we have witnessed the publication of the following main measures issued by some institutional bodies: On 16/03/2020 the document entitled “Statement of the EDPB Chair on the processing of personal data in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak” was published with which the Chair of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), Andrea Jelinek, he declared “Data protection rules (such as GDPR) do not hinder measures taken in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic....

The health emergency related to the #COVID19 pandemic is attracting particular attention in the privacy field, also about possible initiatives regarding the development of specific apps. Today, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) carried out an intervention entitled “EU Digital Solidarity: a call for a pan-European approach against the pandemic”. In particular, the EDPS intervention states The GDPR clearly states that the processing of personal data should be designed to serve mankind (it was the favourite quote from GDPR for my predecessor Giovanni Buttarelli)....

The contribution has been published today by Broadband 4 Europe, here. 1. Introduction As is it well-known, the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has profoundly changed our life, habits, communication and interaction between people, ways of working, etc. In essence, we are experiencing a situation that appears surreal because of the consequent behavioural rules that we are obliged to respect with social distancing to fight the battle of COVID-19. This pandemic situation, which in addition to Italy is leading many other states to adopt the most appropriate prevention measures, also entails a series of questions regarding the protection of personal data with which one must confront....