The use of the app is voluntary and commissioners say it has been developed with robust safeguards however, they also noted the risk of third parties who may seek to compel the app’s users to disclose information.

Privacy commissioners across Canada issued a joint statement in May advising their respective governments of key privacy principles needed to protect the identity of users and their data. “It gives you awareness of when you’ve crossed paths with someone when it’s problematic,” Levy said, which can let a person know that they “might want to head for the testing centre.”Īccording to the Government of Canada’s website page on the app, “nobody will get any information about you or the time you were near them.”įor months, privacy watchdogs have been sounding alarms regarding potential security risks associated with contact tracing apps, as other nations look for ways to curb new infections. This means that if a person with the app reports that they have COVID-19, the app can send a notification to anyone who came close enough to that person to receive the specific code within the last 14 days. “They kind of handshake electronically,” Carmi Levy, a technology analyst, explained to CTV News Channel on Monday. Instead, the app produces random codes, and uses Bluetooth to ping other users’ phones and exchange these codes whenever two people who have the app are physically near one another. Newsletter sign-up: Get The COVID-19 Brief sent to your inbox.However, it does not track a user’s location itself, or use GPS. The app is designed to notify users when they’ve been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. “Canadians can opt to use this technology knowing it includes very significant privacy protections,” says Daniel Therrien, Privacy Commissioner of Canada in a statement released Friday. Federal and Ontario privacy commissioners have concluded their review of the country’s new COVID-19 exposure notification app and say they support its use following initial privacy and security concerns.Įxperts and lawmakers have been assessing privacy concerns associated with contact tracing apps in an effort to curb the spread of the virus, and commissioners say that the federally developed app has met all of their recommendations.ĬOVID Alert was launched in Ontario on Friday, and already has more than a million downloads.

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