Countries such as China, Italy or the USA have developed digital platforms for monitoring people affected by COVID-19, but always voluntarily registered
The Popular Parliamentary Group has demanded that the Government clarify what data it asks the operators, their destination and the result it seeks from them with the computer application they propose on COVID-19.
As the GPP recalls, the Government of Spain, through the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, has just published a Ministerial order (BOE-A-2020 / -1482 of March 27) to develop a computer application that allows obtaining the Mobility data of the entire population in Spain in the days before and during confinement, for subsequent analysis, with the express request of said data to the mobile phone operators.
Something that the GPP describes as nonsense, since in countries such as China, Italy or the US, their governments have developed computer platforms that use Webs and Apps for geolocation and monitoring of people affected by COVID-19 and who have voluntarily registered in said Applications.
However, the Government of Spain orders (SND / 297/2020) that mobile operators provide the location data of the population, in order to have a map of the mobility history of all citizens before and during confinement.
The Popular Parliamentary Group considers that, with this measure, the Government does not establish what specific data is to be requested, nor what indicators are intended to be measured with this acquisition of data, the task of which has been directed to the Secretary of State for Artificial Intelligence and Digitization , instead of the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures, whose powers are telecommunication networks and services
The acquisition of geolocation data of the population through something as personal as a mobile user device and, even more, its treatment with artificial intelligence algorithms, may involve the generation of aggregated information for purposes other than what seems indicate the Ministerial Order and that generate a social alarm in the citizens' own freedom.
The lack of specification of the action that the Government is seeking does not allow knowing the information that is going to be requested from mobile phone operators, nor what are the indicators that are intended to be measured after their treatment. The Government also does not make clear at what point this request for geolocation data of citizens currently residing in Spain will cease.
The Government is very late in coming up with a technological solution to monitor the epidemic in the population, and it does so with a measure that will lead to excessive wear and tear on the human resources of the administration and of the mobile telecommunications companies that operate in Spain without being clear What is the result that you hope to obtain and how will it help to manage the health crisis caused by COVID-19.
For all these reasons, the Popular Group warns that it will be vigilant that the conditions of data protection, data processing and use of resources are met for the result to be obtained and that it must be placed at the service of the citizenship. In this sense, the PP general secretary, Teodoro García Egea, the GPP deputy spokesman Mario Garcés, and the popular deputies Juan Luis Pedreño and Mario Cortés have presented the following battery of written questions:
– What exact information will the Government request from mobile phone operators in Spain?
– What is the specific result you want to obtain and what indicators have been established for it?
– Will there be any treatment with Artificial Intelligence or other applications to extract any additional information?
– How will the Government guarantee compliance with the regulations regarding Data Protection?
– Will the request for data to mobile operators cease when the total confinement that is currently available in Spain ends, or on the contrary, can it continue to be carried out when the confinement conditions change?
– How can the Government of Spain geolocate each citizen, when the data requested from telecommunications operators is anonymised?
– In the case of the computer application App referred to in said order, must the citizen give his consent to be able to use it?
– If the application is installed, does the citizen have the right to unsubscribe and renounce its use?
