Mass violation of rights: Contact-tracing data harvested from pubs and restaurants being sold on

Experts in Britain have warned of a 'mass violation of rights' after 'contact-trac app' users' data collected by pubs and restaurants has reportedly been sold on to third parties.

According to The Times, contact-tracing data required by the NHS Test and Trace scheme has been harvested by tech companies on behalf of hospitality venues since they reopened in June.

The experts raised concerns that the firm might not be able to protect personal data held on its servers.

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Tech Companies collecting data have reportedly created privacy policies which allow the firms to store users’ data for up to 25 years and share it with third parties.

People who have tested positive for COVID-19 use the Government’s contact tracing website to input the details of individuals they have been in contact with, so they can be asked to self-isolate.

A number of such “contact tracing” apps have recently had their trials and many of the developers readily admit that the technology has not yet proven that it can slow the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, a new Council of Europe report has identified a number of shortcomings in the protection of privacy and personal data in some of the legal and technical measures adopted by governments to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic among the several countries.

(With inputs from agencies)