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Two rights groups are threatening legal action against the U.K. government over National Health Service (NHS) Test and Trace privacy violations.
The U.K. government may face the legal challenges soon unless it puts a stop to NHS Test and Trace privacy violations in hospitality venues, according to IT Pro.
According to the U.K. government’s notice, which was last updated on 17 September, the NHS Test and Trace programme allows businesses, including hospitality venues, to collect and maintain customer’s data.
Open Rights Group and Big Brother Watch have sent a letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, pressing the government to make sure NHS Test and Trace privacy measures are taken to protect the personal information the public gives restaurants, bars and cafes during the coronavirus pandemic, IT Pro reported.
The personal data, including contact details, is meant to be used to reach out to visitors who have come to an establishment and may have been exposed to an individual later found to be COVID-19 positive. While the NHS Test and Trace programme may have been rooted inn good intentions, privacy advocates say there are a lot of reasons for concerns.
Both privacy advocate groups requested data rights agency AWO send a pre-legal action document over NHS Test and Trace privacy concerns. The pre-action assertion comes after several reports surfaced about businesses invading and misusing NHS Test and Trace personal data, including using the contact information for marketing or harassment, IT Pro reported.
Unfortunately, there have been claims of customers’ personal information being collected and sold without their knowledge or consent, according to IT Pro.
Customers who have visited restaurants and pubs say their NHS Test and Trace data has been used for harassment purposes.
Some customers report they have been contacted by hospitality venue employees who took their private data from the NHS Test and Trace system. Some women have been harassed by staff members who obtained contact information from unprotected NHS Test and Trace data, Silkie Carlo of Big Brother Watch.
The NHS Test and Trace is already precarious, considering the U.K. government has even admitted the system breaches privacy laws. Due to being implemented quickly, NHS Test and Trace privacy was not tested by the Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA). Therefore, the system is illegal, but still has been used since May.
“This extraordinary law entails the mass recording of personal data in a way that raises serious questions of legality and safety,” Carlo said on the Big Brother Watch website. “It poses a serious risk to privacy and data rights.
“We’ve already had to act for young women who have been harassed by bar staff after their contact details were not safely kept. It was purely magical thinking for the Health Secretary to believe that such extreme requirements, unmatched by the proper legal safeguards, would not put many people at risk.”
Jim Killock from Open Rights Group remarked that the U.K. government is breaching the public’s duty of care over violations of NHS Test and Trace privacy.
“We’ve long argued that we won’t be able to defeat a global pandemic without building and maintaining public trust in government’s public health measures,” Carlo said, according to IT Pro. “The government’s refusal to ensure its Test and Trace programme protects people’s data further erodes trust in arguably the most important tool in preventing a second wave of coronavirus infections.
“This is extremely concerning as we’re about to experience a possible second wave of infections across the country during the winter months.”
What is your opinion about NHS Test and Trace privacy? Do you think legal action should be taken against venues that have not properly stored the data? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
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