Tag Archives: tracing app

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly shows of the HSE/Department of Health Covid-19 tracing app on his phone yesterday

This morning?

The CovidTracker Ireland app, which has been in development since late March at a cost of €850,000, went live on Monday night.

However…

….it is the need for GPS location services to be enabled on phones using Google’s Android operating system in order for the app to work, a fact which only emerged after the application went live on Monday evening, that drew the most ire from privacy campaigners.

Android users currently represent roughly 39% of the Irish smartphone market, making it by some distance the dominant operating system here.

The HSE has stressed for two months that the app does not track location, with all elements of contact tracing operating under bluetooth ‘handshake’ functionality.

However, in order for the app’s exposure notification protocol to function on Android phones location services must be enabled so that a device’s bluetooth radio ‘beacons’ can be activated, with the app rendered useless without them.

Privacy concern over Covid tracing system (irish Examiner)

Meanwhile…

Anon writes:

The new app. has two Dublin locations: “North Country Dublin” and “South Country Dublin“. UK designers?

What a country.

Anyone?

Previously: Tracing App Report Card

Rollingnews

CEO of the HSE Paul Reid, letter from Digital Rights Ireland to the HSE

Yesterday.

Further to a report in the Business Post by Susan Mitchell and Aaron Rogan on March 29 last that the HSE will be rolling out an opt-in “mobile phone tracking and tracing app” that will allow people to be notified if they were in close proximity to people who tested positive for Covid-19…

Digital Rights Ireland has written to the head of the HSE Paul Reid (above) asking to discuss the HSE’s plans for this app “and other digital initiatives” over a videoconference call.

It’s been previously reported that the HSE has been in contact with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner about the track and trace app.

However, details of the app are not clear in terms of what information will be used, how and where this information will be stored and with whom it will be shared. It’s also not clear if the roll-out of the app will be subject to a time limit.

In its letter, Digital Rights Ireland, who successfully argued in the European Court of Justice in 2014 that laws requiring ISPs and mobile phone companies to log details of a phone user’s location, their texts, emails, internet use, and to store that information for up to two years, was a breach of privacy,  also asked for Mr Reid to provide it with the app’s Data Protection Impact Assessment.

It’s also not clear if such an assessment has been carried out.

Meanwhile, last night…

Phone tracking app set to be used as next step to fight Covid-19 (Susan Mitchell, Aaron Rogan, Business Post)

Previously: Track And Trace

G’Wan De Digital Rights