Norway forced to delete contact tracing app data over privacy concerns

After the data protection authority ruled that Norway’s Smittestopp app disproportionately intruded on users’ privacy by collecting location data without demonstrating it was strictly necessary and by failing to allow users to separately grant permission for contact tracing and for using the data for future research, the country’s health authorities were forced to delete all the user data it had gathered since the app’s mid-April launch and suspend further use. Experts who were asked to review the app recommended switching to the Apple-Google decentralised framework. The health authority has advised users to disable the app while it decides whether to appeal. Health authorities objected that suspending the app weakens the country’s ability to fight the ongoing pandemic.

Writer: Leo Kelion; Natasha Lomas
Publication: BBC; TechCrunch