Data gathered from an application to track COVID-19 contacts in Italy will be controlled by the Health Ministry, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Thursday, adding that specific regulations will be put in place to ensure the security of user data
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th April, 2020) Data gathered from an application to track COVID-19 contacts in Italy will be controlled by the Health Ministry, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Thursday, adding that specific regulations will be put in place to ensure the security of user data.
The Italian government has chosen the Immuni application to help track the spread of the coronavirus in order to better manage the exit from the state of emergency, or "phase two," which will start after May 4.
"In particular, the proposed regulations envisage that the data controller is the Health Ministry and that its actions will be limited to tracing only, with the use of the mobile application installed on a voluntary basis and designed to track only the contacts among those who downloaded the app ... Another specific regulation has also been introduced [by the government] that can be further adjusted by the health ministry aiming to guarantee adequate security for the rights and freedoms of the interested parties," Conte told lawmakers.
The decree regulating the tracking of COVID-19 patients was adopted by the government on Wednesday and will be passed to the parliament for possible amendments.
The new regulations seek to clarify personal data processing in line with norms outlined by the European Data Protection board and the European Commission, according to Conte.
"The platform will work on our national territory ... The app will not collect any data on the geolocation of the users. It will be available for free and on a voluntary basis and will use codes that do not allow to reveal the identity of a user," the prime minister explained.
Immuni will be used on a voluntary basis, ensure users' anonymity and use Bluetooth technology, which means that data will not be passed to a centralized database. It is expected to be tested in a few regions first and then extended.
The app shows users if other users are located near them. If an application user reports a positive coronavirus diagnosis, the app can inform people with whom they have recently been in contact.
