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#Coronavirus #TracingApps must be voluntary and time-limited

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Vĕra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Values and Transparency

Today (17 April) the European Commission published guidance on the development of new apps that support the fight against coronavirus in relation to data protection. 

Smartphone tracing apps and their uptake by citizens can play a significant role in containment and be complementary to other measures like increased testing capacities.

The European Commission is concerned that these apps will not be widely adopted if citizens can’t fully trust such innovative digital solutions if they do not respect the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the ePrivacy Directive. The new guidance aims to offer the necessary framework to guarantee that citizens have sufficient protection of their personal data and limitation of intrusiveness while using such apps. 

The European Data Protection Board was consulted on the guidance. 

Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, said:”This is the first global crisis where we can deploy the full power of technology to offer efficient solutions and support the exit strategies from the pandemic. Trust of Europeans will be key to the success of the tracing mobile apps. Respecting the EU data protection rules will help ensure that our privacy and fundamental rights will be upheld and that the European approach will be transparent and proportional.”

Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, said: “The use of mobile phone apps have the potential to really help in the fight against coronavirus, for example by helping users to diagnose themselves, as a safe communication channel between doctors and patients, by alerting users who are at risk of catching the virus, and to help us lift confinement measures. At the same time, we are talking about very sensitive data being collected on the health of our citizens, which we are duty-bound to protect. Our guidance supports the safe development of apps and protect our citizens' personal data, in line with the EU's strong data protection rules. We will get out of the sanitary crisis, while keeping our fundamental rights intact.”

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