Security News > 2020 > September > UK Parliament's human rights committee pushes for better protections of coronavirus contact-tracing data in law
In the absence of a working contact tracing app, the UK government has been forced to rely on manual data collection and human-powered tracing to identify potential cases of exposure to the Covid-19 virus.
As this information is recorded and stored digitally, any concerns regarding an app-based approach to contact tracing also apply to manual contact tracing.
The launch of the UK government's second contact-tracing app is already embroiled in confusion after a Downing Street spokesperson incorrectly told reporters yesterday that it wouldn't log interactions between users - which is a fundamental component of app-based contact tracing.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights echoed previous calls for the government to protect contact-tracing data privacy with a bespoke law.
"Manual contact tracing is the main component of the UK's test, track and trace system. This still involves data being collected; indeed, that data is arguably more sensitive than that collected by the app," it said.