Phillips agreed that privacy issues must be handled carefully. “Rather than just assuming this is an unacceptable intrusion on people’s privacy, there are potentially substantial benefits to be had by having public health response use technology,” he said in an interview. Peter Phillips, an infectious disease expert at the University of British Columbia, said privacy rights aren’t the only issue and Canadians need to make sacrifices based on the benefit for public health. Our framework aims to focus on what we believe are the most relevant principles in context, without abandoning others,” said commissioner Daniel Therrien.ĭr. “During a crisis, laws can be applied flexibly and contextually, but they must still apply. It says collected data should be destroyed when the pandemic ends and that measures must be science-based and “necessary to achieve a specific identified purpose.” The discussion prompted Canada’s privacy commissioner to release a framework for governments. In addition, it must not at any time make it possible to identify an individual, in particular, a person suffering from COVID-19,” the Quebec Health Ministry said in a statement. “Geolocation cannot replace the contact tracing actions carried out by the public-health departments. Only Quebec has strongly pushed back against using contact tracing technology and apps. Other provinces are taking a wait-and-see approach.īritish Columbia is not looking at contact tracing apps at this time, while a spokesperson for Ontario’s Health Ministry said no decision has been made. The province said no identifiable information is exchanged between the app users and geolocation data will not be collected.Ī spokesman for New Brunswick’s Ministry of Health said its app would allow those diagnosed with COVID-19 to send an anonymous message to those they have come in contact with. It uses Bluetooth signals to track users and if you’re diagnosed with COVID-19, it will contact those you may have come into contact with. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government has received a number of proposals but understands that Canadians value their privacy and need certain assurances.Īlberta launched its app, called ABTraceTogether, on Friday. The reaction at various government levels to creating and implementing the apps has been mixed.
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