The UK's Data Protection Commissioner's Office has said the government can use data location users smartphone to track whereabouts from their , as it can help combat and monitor the spread of coronavirus . The commissioner claims that using data does not breach privacy ,as location the data is anonymous .
The government is said to have already spoken to companies about using location data, which allows the movement of UK citizens to be tracked. The aim is to ensure that people comply with the lockdownto reduce the spread of coronavirus.
The Information Commissioner also appears to be on the government's side, having approved the use of data during this critical period. The only condition: the data is anonymized to protect people's privacy.
“Generalised analysis of location data is helping to tackle the coronavirus crisis. When data is anonymised, it does not fall under data protection law because it does not allow the identification of the individual,” said Deputy Commissioner Steve Wood.
"Under these circumstances, privacy is not violated, as long as appropriate safeguards are in place," he added.
Data protection laws can be applied flexibly to ensure the protection of data and human life. Public safety is important, the Commissioner said. The authority will continue to advise the government on the application of data protection law during the coronavirus pandemic.
Some countries, including Israel, Singapore and South Korea, are already tracking citizens using location data in an effort to track the spread of the coronavirus, a tactic that the US and UK.
However, tracking location data (even for coronavirus tracking) raises privacy and security , especially if the anonymized data can be linked to other data to identify users. Also, many believe that the data will continue to be collected after the pandemic is over.
As technology is used to combat the coronavirus, data protection comes to the fore
