StopCovid Tracing App: French Data Protection Authority Gives The Green Light

• Published date: 09 June 2020
• Author: Mr Basile Moore (Capstan Avocats)
• Subject Matter: Privacy, Coronavirus (COVID-19), Data Protection, Privacy Protection, Employment and Workforce Wellbeing, Reporting and Compliance
• Law Firm: lus Laboris

On 25 May 2020, the CNIL, the French data protection authority issued a ruling on a draft decree relating to 'StopCovid', a mobile app made available to smartphone users by the French government to alert them to a risk of coronavirus infection.

On 25 May, the CNIL issued a ruling on a draft decree relating to the 'StopCovid' mobile app. The purpose of this app is to inform users that they have been in close proximity to someone who has been diagnosed as Covid-19 positive who is also using the app, as this proximity may lead to a risk of infection.

This referral follows the opinion issued by the CNIL on 24 April 2020 on the principle of introducing such an app. At that time, the CNIL considered the implementation of 'StopCovid' to be possible, provided that it is useful in the context of the 'deconfinement' strategy and that it is designed to protect users' privacy.

The CNIL notes that its main recommendations (use of pseudonymised data, no geolocation or creation of a record of infected individuals) have been taken into account by the government and thus believes that this temporary, voluntary arrangement can be legally implemented.

h3CNIL's observations

In order to ensure full compliance of the application with the GDPR, the CNIL has nevertheless made several...