The Dutch data protection regulator AP has rejected the government's plans to use mobile network data in the fight against Covid-19. The government proposed legislation to require telecom operators to share the anonymised data on a temporary basis. However, the AP's chairman Aleid Wolfsen has advised the cabinet not to go ahead with the law in its current form, the NOS reports.
The health agency RIVM is planning to use the data to track movement between municipalities. The population data is expected to help in coordinating regional health facilities. If for example, a large gathering takes place in municipality A with many visitors from municipality B, the authorities want to follow the travel patterns. However, it is likely that any meeting has a political or religious character, revealing information about the participants.
Furthermore, there remains the chance that the anonymised data can be traced back to individuals. As such, the AP does not consider the data anonymous. If the data falls into the hands of parties with large amounts of location data, they can quickly start identifying individuals.
The AP claims its earlier warnings were not followed up. Wolfsen told the NOS there is significant public debate about the matter, with the regulator receiving calls for concerned citizens and telecom providers. He decided to make a public comment after the AP's previous recommendations received little consideration. "The data is not unconditionally anonymised, the purpose and necessity insufficiently supported and the guarantees we advised not included enough in the legislation."
