Debate: Use of contact tracing apps in the fight against the coronavirus
Date: THURSDAY, 14 MAY 2020
Speaker: Didier Reynders
Language: FR

La pandémie qui sévit actuellement ne connaît pas de frontières. Les données et la technologie peuvent nous aider dans la lutte contre le coronavirus et dans la levée progressive des restrictions et le rétablissement de la libre circulation des personnes. Les applications de traçage des contacts peuvent jouer un rôle dans cette entreprise. The Commission adopted the recommendation on 8 April setting out the principles and showing the respect of fundamental rights and, in particular, the right to privacy and personal data protection and the prevention of mass surveillance and stigmatisation. It was followed by a common EU toolbox developed by the Member States with the support of the Commission and complemented by Commission guidance on the respect of privacy and data protection.  Our guidance sets key principles. National health authorities or authorities responsible for the crisis management should be the controller. The installation of an app on a user’s device should be voluntary. If proximity data is used, it should be stored on an individual’s device and only shared at the initiative of the user.  For contact tracing there is no use of geo-localisation data, only proximity data based on Bluetooth. Only the personal data that is necessary to meet the purpose of the app can be processed. The identity of the user of the app will not be disclosed to other users. The personal data should not be kept for longer than necessary. Timelines should be based on medical relevance. In addition, the app should be only used during the crisis and be deactivated, at the latest, when the pandemic is over.  The deactivation should not depend on de-installation by the user. The data and the entire application should be protected through state-of-the-art security techniques, including encryption. And finally, data protection authorities should be fully involved and consulted in the development of an app and should keep its deployment under review.  Le but des applications de traçage des contacts est d’aider à briser les chaînes d’infection et à sauver des vies. Cependant, cela ne fonctionnera que si les citoyens savent qu’ils sont en sécurité et que leurs données et leur vie privée sont entièrement protégées. Les citoyens doivent avoir la certitude que les applications seront utilisées exclusivement pour lutter contre la pandémie. Ce sont là les conditions préalables au développement, à la reconnaissance et à l’utilisation de telles applications.  J’insiste sur ce point: il ne doit pas y avoir de doute. Ces applications ne peuvent pas être utilisées pour une surveillance de masse. Les individus garderont et devront garder le contrôle de leurs données. C’est le fondement de la précision et de l’efficacité de ces applications pour contenir la propagation du virus.  Il est donc essentiel d’identifier les solutions les moins intrusives et qui respectent pleinement les exigences de protection des données personnelles et de confidentialité telles que définies dans le droit de l’Union européenne. It is also essential that we have a coordinated European approach. This European approach is clear. These apps must be voluntary, transparent, temporary, cyber-secure, using temporary and arbitrary identifiers, rely on proximity data, Bluetooth technology and not on geo-localisation. That means no tracking. And they must be interoperable across borders, but also across operating systems.  As regards the two different approaches referred to as centralised and decentralised, both can be compatible with privacy and data-protection rules, and both need to follow high standards of data security. From a data-minimisation perspective, the decentralised approach is preferable since less data would be stored on the back-end server than under the centralised one. Regardless of the approach chosen, we should strive to have a common approach to ensure interoperability of the apps. The Commission is working with Member States on this issue as a top priority, and I am glad that guidelines on interoperability for approved contact tracing mobile applications in the EU were adopted yesterday by the e-Health networks of Member States and published on the Commission website. I cannot emphasise enough how important interoperability will be for the cross-border circulation of people in the Union and for many sectors, including tourism.  We should also make sure that national health authorities are able to adjust the epidemiologic barometers of the apps and to obtain the necessary aggregated information to monitor the efficiency of the measures taken.  The Commission also firmly believes that the process regarding the selection of the apps as well as their functioning, should be transparent. The technical specifications and the source code of the apps should therefore be published.  Some Member States are using manual tracing together or instead of tracing apps. Their tracing modalities need to be in line with personal data protection rules as well. We will also be attentive to this.  Mesdames et Messieurs les députés, comme nous le savons tous, les États membres ont commencé à introduire les premières étapes des mesures de déconfinement. C’est pourquoi nous avons besoin d’une approche européenne coordonnée. Nous devons agir ensemble avec responsabilité et solidarité pour arrêter ce virus. Monsieur le Président, je vous remercie de cette occasion de préciser les lignes de force annoncées par la Commission en collaboration avec les États membres. Je suis évidemment à l’écoute des remarques, des observations des membres de votre Assemblée.