The European Commission has called on the 27 EU member states to adopt a common approach in the use of mobile apps and network location data to fight the coronavirus. It aims to have a 'toolbox' available by 15 April to support the use of such data.
Several European countries have been working on mobile apps to help identify people infected with the virus, track their contact with others and monitor quarantine rules, as used successfully in China and South Korea. The Commission's recommendation to member states is to ensure the apps adhere to the same standards of personal data protection, in line with EU regulations, and provide a similar level of effectiveness from both a medical and technical point of view.
The Commission also wants to avoid a proliferation of incompatible applications and support interoperability across countries. This should facilitate the sharing of data results and best practices with health authorities across the region. A group of European researchers earlier launched an open-source platform to ensure the tracing apps can work across borders.
The European Data Protection Board announced earlier this it plans to develop guidance for governments and researchers using personal data in efforts to fight the coronavirus outbreak. The Commission said it will work closely with the EDPB to ensure its recommendations are included in the toolbox for member states.
European Commissioner Thierry Breton also started working with telecom operators last month on a common approach to providing anonymised, aggregated data from mobile networks to monitor the effectiveness of confinement measures. The data will be transferred to the Commission's Joint Research Centre for processing and modelling. It will not be shared with third parties and only be stored as long as the crisis is ongoing.
The EU states will be expected to report back to the Commission by the end of May on their actions and the Commission will produce periodic reports on the matter from June.
