COVID-19 privacy news (w/e 12th June)

Here are the latest stories on how the COVID-19 outbreak has affected privacy:

4th June:

• Reuters reports how EU countries just starting to deploy contact tracing apps may perform better and protect privacy more compared to initial apps that have been rolled out in some member states.

5th June

• The Register reveals UK government finally publishes contracts giving Amazon, Microsoft, Google and AI firms access to COVID-19 health data, while questions raised about contracts given to companies linked to Dominic Cummings and Vote Leave campaign.
• Digital Health reports that the NHS denies a conflict of interest over the advisory role of DeepMind's founder over collecting patient data during Covid-19.

8th June:

• Open Rights Group publish article calling for the ICO to stand up to the government over its contact-tracing data collection plans.
• Global Privacy Assembly releases the June edition of its newsletter in which Elizabeth Denham and Andrea Jelinek remark on data protection during the COVID-19 outbreak.
• EURACTIV reports that human rights groups are calling for EU member states to be transparent with COVID-19 data being collected and stored on contact-tracing databases.
• Politico highlights how governments around the world have to navigate privacy versus urgency in the fight against Covid-19.

9th June:

• Digitalhealth reveals trust is key to the user adoption of the NHS contact-tracing app.
• EURACTIV reports that experts claim the German COVID-19 app is 'clean' but still lacks legal basis.
• Reuters reports Poland's latest contact-tracing app has been adapted to address concerns about privacy. 

11th June:

• Digitalhealth reports that contact-tracing app data may feed into NHS Covid-19 data store.
• HuffPost reveals NHS Test And Trace could be mandatory.