I’ve been occasionally posting FAQs or guidance from other countries and regions about privacy and the COVID-19 pandemic. While the bigger players tend to get more media coverage and analysis, let us never forget that we are all impacted. Here’s an FAQ from the office of the privacy commissioner of New Zealand.
Category: Healthcare
Montenegrin Coronavirus Patients’ Identities Exposed Online
Samir Kajosevic reports: After Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic announced on Tuesday evening that the country had its first two coronavirus cases, the patients’ identities were published by social media users. Photos of one of the patients and her family were also posted online. The ethnicities and religious beliefs of the patients were then targeted…
COVID-19 Could Provide Cover for Domestic Surveillance Expansion
Karl Bode reports: In the days and months to come, unprecedented global solidarity will emerge as the world battles the COVID-19 outbreak. But experts also worry the surging pandemic will provide cover for those looking to expand already problematic domestic surveillance practices. Consumer cell phone location data has proven to be hugely lucrative for the marketing…
To Track Coronavirus, Israel Moves to Tap Secret Trove of Cellphone Data
David M. Halbfinger, Isabel Kershner and Ronen Bergman report: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has authorized the country’s internal security agency to tap into a vast and previously undisclosed trove of cellphone data to retrace the movements of people who have contracted the coronavirus and identify others who should be quarantined because their paths…