Data Protection and COVID-19

Processing of personal data in the context of the management of COVID-19

Hellenic Data Protection Authority

• 7/9/2020
  Opinion no. 4/2020 on synchronous distance education in primary and secondary schools (available only in Greek)

• 15/4/2020
  Guidelines 2/2020 on the adoption of security measures in the context of teleworking (available only in Greek)

• 18/3/2020
  Guidelines 1/2020 on the processing of personal data in the context of the management of COVID-19 (available only in Greek)

 

European Data Protection Board (EDPB)

• 31/3/2021
  EDPB-EDPS Joint Opinion 4/2021 on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on a framework for the issuance, verification and acceptance of interoperable certificates on vaccination, testing and recovery

• 17/7/2020
  EDPB response to Mrs Ďuriš Nicholsonová's letter on follow up questions in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemics

• 17/6/2020
  Thirty-second plenary session: Statement on the interoperability of contact tracing applications, statement on the opening of borders and data protection rights, response letters to MEP Körner on laptop camera covers and encryption and letter to the Commi

• 16/6/2020
  Statement on the data protection impact of the interoperability of contact tracing apps
  
  Statement on the processing of personal data in the context of reopening of borders following the COVID-19 outbreak

• 3/6/2020
  30th Plenary session: EDPB response to NGOs on Hungarian Decrees and statement on Article 23 GDPR
  
  Letter of 11 May 2020 from the Civil Liberties Union for Europe, Access Now and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union(HCLU)

• 2/6/2020
  Statement on restrictions on data subject rights in connection to the state of emergency in Member States

• 8/5/2020
  Twenty-sixth plenary session: EDPB adopts letter on Polish presidential elections data disclosure & discusses recent Hungarian government decrees in relation to the coronavirus during the state of emergency

• 24/4/2020
  Twenty-fourth plenary session: adopted documents EDPB response to the US Mission to the EU on the transfer of personal data for the purpose of scientific research and the development of vaccines and treatments to combat COVID-19

• 24/4/2020
  EDPB Response to MEP Sophie in't Veld on the use of apps in fight against COVID-19

• 23/4/2020
  EDPB response MEPs Duris Nicholsonova and Jurzyca on common guidance in the fight against the COVID-19

• 21/4/2020
  Guidelines 04/2020 on the use of location data and contact tracing tools in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak

• 14/4/2020
  Twenty-first plenary session of the European Data Protection Board - Letter concerning the European Commission's draft Guidance on apps supporting the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic

• 19/3/2020
  Statement on the processing of personal data in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak

   

Institutions of the European Union

     Council of the European Union

• 5/5/2020
  Video conference of telecommunications ministers

 

     European Parliament

• 9/6/2021
  Parliament gives its final green light to the EU Digital COVID Certificate

• 5/5/2021
  Q&A on the EU COVID-19 certificate

• 29/4/2021
  EU COVID-19 certificate must facilitate free movement without discrimination

• 25/3/2021
  Parliament fast-tracks procedure to adopt Digital Green Certificate by June

• 19/1/2021
  Covid-19 vaccinations: more solidarity and transparency needed

• 15/5/2020
  Covid-19 tracing apps: ensuring privacy and data protection

• 14/5/2020
  COVID-19 tracing apps: MEPs stress the need to preserve citizens' privacy

• 6/5/2020
  Data protection: tracking coronavirus, not you

• 29/4/2020
  COVID-19: fundamental rights must be upheld, warn MEPs

• 17/4/2020
  European Parliament resolution of 17 April 2020 on EU coordinated action to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences (2020/2616(RSP))

• 7/4/2020
  Use of smartphone data to manage COVID-19 must respect EU data protection rules

 

     European Commission

• 19/10/2020
  Coronavirus: EU interoperability gateway for contact tracing and warning apps – Questions and Answers

• 13/10/2020
  Questions & Answers on the coordination of measures restricting free movement in the European Union related to the coronavirus pandemic

• 4/9/2020
  Coronavirus: Commission proposes more clarity and predictability of any measures restricting free movement in the European Union

• 15/7/2020
  Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1023 of 15 July 2020 amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1765 as regards the cross-border exchange of data between national contact tracing and warning mobile applications with regard to combatting the COVID-19 pandemic

• 16/6/2020
  Coronavirus: Member States agree on an interoperability solution for mobile tracing and warning apps

• 20/5/2020
  Joint statement ahead of the 2nd year anniversary of the General Data Protection Regulation

• 13/5/2020
  Tourism and transport: Commission's guidance on how to safely resume travel and reboot Europe's tourism in 2020 and beyond*

• 13/5/2020
  Coronavirus: a common approach for safe and efficient mobile tracing apps across the EU

• 16/4/2020
  Guidance on Apps supporting the fight against COVID-19 pandemic in relation to data protection
  
  Coronavirus: Guidance to ensure full data protection standards of apps fighting the pandemic

• 8/4/2020
  Recommendation on apps for contact tracing

 

     European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS)

• 26/2/2021
  EDPS Opinion on the European Banking Authority’s (‘the EBA’) consultation on the legal basis for manual contact tracing of COVID-19

• 2/2/2021
  Orientations on manual contact tracing by EU Institutions in the context of the COVID-19 crisis

• 1/9/2020
  Body temperature checks by EU institutions: Careful assessment and data protection safeguards are necessary

• 15/7/2020
  Orientations from the EDPS. Reactions of EU institutions as employers to the COVID-19 crisis

• 13/7/2020
  Reinventing the trainee conference in times of COVID-19

• 30/6/2020
  Shaping a Safer Digital Future: a New Strategy for a New Decade

• 16/6/2020
  Opinion on the European Strategy for Data

• 9/5/2020
  A post Covid-19 Future: #Solidarity #FreedomοfMovement #DataProtection

• 7/5/2020
  ΕDPS TechDispatch #1/2020: Contact Tracing with Mobile Applications
  
  Exchange of views with the LIBE Members on the use of personal data in the fight against COVID-19

• 30/4/2020
  Carrying the torch in times of darkness

• 6/4/2020
  EU Digital Solidarity: a call for a pan-European approach against the pandemic

• 25/3/2020
  Monitoring spread of COVID-19

• 20/3/2020
  The moment you realise the world has changed: re-thinking the EDPS Strategy

 

     European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)

• 29/7/2020
  Coronavirus pandemic in the EU - Fundamental Rights Implications - Bulletin 4

• 11/6/2020
  COVID-19 underlines importance of strong fundamental rights protection

• 28/5/2020
  Tech answers to COVID-19 should also safeguard fundamental rights

• 8/4/2020
  Protect human rights and public health in fighting COVID-19

 

     eHealth Network

• 4/9/2020
  European Interoperability Certificate Governance. A Security Architecture for contact tracing and warning apps

• 30/6/2020
  Towards a common approach for the use of anonymised and aggregated mobility data for modelling the diffusion of COVID-19, and optimising the effectiveness of response measures

• 12/6/2020
  Interoperability specifications for cross-border transmission chains between approved apps

• 13/5/2020
  Interoperability guidelines for approved contact tracing mobile applications in the EU Common EU Toolbox for Member States Version 1.0

• 15/4/2020
  Mobile applications to support contact tracing in the EU's fight against COVID-19 Common EU Toolbox for Member States Version 1.0

 

Global Privacy Assembly

• 31/3/2021
  GPA Executive Committee joint statement on the use of health data for domestic or international travel purposes

• 10/2020
  GPA Resolution on Privacy Data protection Challenges Arising in the context of Covid-19 Pandemic

• 21/10/2020
  Global Privacy Assembly 2020: Raising international data protection and privacy standards through a modern, collaborative global community

• 16/9/2020
  OECD/GPA Virtual Workshop (COVID-19 series) – ‘The road to recovery: Lessons learned and challenges ahead; Addressing the data protection and privacy challenges raised by COVID-19’

• 27/8/2020
  GPA COVID-19 Response Task Force aims to protect data subjects ‘now more than ever’

• 25/8/2020
  GPA COVID-19 Taskforce and IAPP Web Conference – ‘New Normal: Data protection: Security, Privacy and Safety in the Workplace’

• 21/5/2020
  Global Privacy Assembly launches COVID-19 taskforce
  
  Achieving privacy by design in contact tracing measures

• 15/4/2020
  Headlines from the OECD-GPA COVID-19 Workshop

• 3/2020
  Data protection and Coronavirus (COVID-19) resources

• 17/3/2020
  Statement by the GPA Executive Committee on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

 

Council of Europe

• 4/5/2021
  Vaccine pass: yes, but with strict respect of Human rights

• 3/5/2021
  CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE OF THE CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF INDIVIDUALS WITH REGARD TO AUTOMATIC PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATΑ, CONVENTION 108. Statement: COVID-19 vaccination, attestations and data protection

• 12/10/2020
  Digital solutions to fight COVID-19: shortcomings protecting privacy and personal data

• 10/6/2020
  Lessons learnt and challenges faced by the judiciary during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

• 9/6/2020
  Secretary General at Congress Bureau: "Local and regional authorities play a key role in responding to the COVID crisis and that of climate change"

• 26/5/2020
  Venice commission: Reflections on Respect for Democracy, Human Rights and the Rule of Law during States of Emergency

• 18/5/2020
  COVID-19: ‘We are not forced to choose between health and privacy, we can have both’ says PACE rapporteur

• 28/4/2020
  Joint Statement on Digital Contact Tracing by Alessandra Pierucci, Chair of the Committee of Convention 108 and Jean-Philippe Walter, Data Protection Commissioner of the Council of Europe

• 14/4/2020
  COVID-19: Human rights principles must guide health decisions

• 9/4/2020
  COVID-19: ‘We are not forced to choose between health and privacy, we can have both’ says PACE rapporteur

• 8/4/2020
  Coronavirus: guidance to governments on respecting human rights, democracy and the rule of law

• 30/3/2020
  Joint Statement on the right to data protection in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic by Alessandra Pierucci, Chair of the Committee of Convention 108 and Jean-Philippe Walter, Data Protection Commissioner of the Council of Europe

 

     Parliamentary Assembly

• 10/6/2021
  Covid passes’ should respect common human rights and rule of law standards, says PACE rapporteur

• 20/4/2021
  Current affairs debate on 'Covid passports or certificates: protection of fundamental rights and legal implications'

• 28/1/2021
  Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development Minutes Public hearing on “Towards a Covid-19 vaccine”, held via videoconference, on Tuesday 1 December 2020

• 13/10/2020
  Measures restricting human rights taken to address health crises must be ‘lawful, proportionate and non-discriminatory’

• 2/7/2020
  Report: The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on human rights and the rule of law

• 26/6/2020
  COVID-19: responding to the next pandemic, states should act fast and comply with human rights

• 4/6/2020
  COVID-19: Urgent need for a ‘strong regulatory and ethical framework’ for AI in healthcare

• 30/4/2020
  COVID-19: Committee chairs discuss the pandemic, human rights and the rule of law with Council of Europe experts

 

     Commissioner for human rights

• 3/6/2020
  States must give a renewed impetus to realising human rights for all

 

World Health Organization

• 19/11/2020
  Joint Statement on Data Protection and Privacy in the COVID-19 Response