Social Pass: Limitation of query options demanded
The Federal Data Protection Commissioner (Edoeb) criticizes the lack of data protection of the contact tracing app of catering establishments. The query options of cantonal health authorities of the collected data should be limited to a minimum.
The contact tracing app "Social Pass" is used by hospitality businesses in Switzerland to record contact data. The application consists of the three system components "Social Pass", "Social Scan" and a central database. When visiting a restaurant, guests use it to scan the QR code of the restaurant. The contact data is then automatically sent to a central database and stored there.
In addition to identifying organizational and technical deficiencies, the clarification of the facts by the Federal Data Protection Commissioner (Edoeb) now revealed in particular that the operators granted the health authorities in the cantons of Vaud and Valais direct access to the central database and made it available for almost any personal queries. The latter violated the principle of proportionality due to the lack of legal and technical restrictions on the possibilities of querying, according to Edoeb.
In April, the operators resisted an adjustment of the query options by the authorities. The operators have now been set a deadline of 30 days on May 28, 2021 to comment on the Edoeb report and recommendations and to point out any privacy or information protection interests in view of their publication.
Source: Edoeb
