EU asks telecoms giants to share mobile data to predict virus spread

The European Commission urged Europe's telecoms giants, including Deutsche Telekom and Orange, to share their users' mobile data streams from across the region to help predict the spread of the coronavirus "for the common good". In a letter in response, Dutch Renew MEP Sophie In't Veld stressed that that data must remain anonymised, and questioned the usefulness of aggregating very large quantities of location data from millions of Europeans who are locked down. Meanwhile, questions are being asked about how the data collected by the many app projects that have sprung up to track symptoms (the Kings College London COVID Symptom Tracker app, developed in conjunction with the health science data company Zoe) or record contacts (the Red Cross Stop Corona app) will be shared.

Source: https://www.euractiv.com/section/digital/news/commission-touts-importance-of-data-for-common-good-amid-covid-19-privacy-concerns/

Writer: Samuel Stolton
Publication: Euractiv