Led by EDRi, 44 organizations have sounded the alarm about indiscriminate biometric data collection. As of May 2020, at least 15 European countries are experimenting with biometric technologies for purposes which amount to mass surveillance, they say.

Although “there’s no clear evidence that use of contact tracing apps will help us contain the spread of COVID-19, governments around the globe have nonetheless decided that’s what they are going to try.

The EU wants to see more non-personal data shared between businesses, but that could prove easier said than done. On 19 February, the European Commission presented a three-part package to boost Europe’s digital economy, including a European strategy for data.

On 8 April the Council of Europe published its guidelines on how to use algorithms and automation while at the same time protecting human rights.

Tracking the spread of COVID-19 with precise data is self-evidently one of the key tools needed to slow the spread of the pandemic. But that doesn’t mean we throw the baby out with the bathwater.

The pattern is not new. We’ve seen it dozens of times before – following every major terrorist attack there has been a push from authorities for more tracking, more surveillance. It is not a question of “if” but “when,” and how …