COVID-19 apps come with privacy risks, watchdogs warn

OTTAWA — Governments that want to use smartphones to trace the movements of Canadians during the COVID-19 crisis should handle personal information with care, privacy watchdogs warned Thursday in a call for caution.

Privacy commissioners have been warning of potential risks associated with government COVID-19 apps since provinces started musing about the idea a few weeks ago. The apps work by keeping a record of when one phone gets close to another, then alerting users if they’ve come into contact with someone who has a confirmed or presumed case. Alberta introduced an app last week, and New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador are looking at developing their own.

“The choices that our governments make today about how to achieve both public health protection and respect for our fundamental Canadian values, including the right to privacy, will shape the future of our country,” the federal, provincial and territorial privacy commissioners wrote in a joint statement.

Federal privacy czar Daniel Therrien said the health crisis calls for flexibility when it comes to the application of privacy laws, but there is a way to use technology to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus without sacrificing fundamental rights to privacy.

“Everything hinges on design and appropriate design depends on respect for certain key privacy principles,” Therrien said. Therrien and the other commissioners said while app developers must respect Canada’s privacy laws, such laws aren’t always effective in the digital world.

They released guidelines for provinces, urging them to be transparent and accountable about how their apps work and what is being done with users’ personal information. The commissioners stressed participation should be voluntary and users should provide clear consent to whatever they’re signing up for. The apps should also be secure to safeguard personal data, which should be destroyed once the crisis is over, they said.

Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, said her team is keeping an eye on the apps in development across the country to see if one could be adopted at the national level, but privacy will be the main concern. —