Ethics and health data protection in pandemics: A reference to the case of applications for contact tracking

Authors

Abstract

The analysis and massive treatment (big data) of health data using artificial intelligence algorithms, as well as platforms and applications for contact tracking and geolocation, have been proposed as necessary tools to successfully manage a situation like the current COVID-19 pandemic. Examples such as those from South Korea, Norway or Singapore seem to be having an impact and Europe has been quick to endorse them, although without losing sight of its own regulatory framework, the protection of fundamental rights, and respect for basic ethical principles. We raise some ethical and legal questions regarding the processing of health data in a context of public health emergency such as the present one: legitimacy, limitations to consent, public/private relations, security, and privacy, among others. To this end, we take as a reference the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), recommendations of the European Commission, guidelines of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD), pronouncements such as that of the Spanish Bioethics Committee or the recent European framework on digitalisation (February–March 2020).

Keywords

health, data protection, ethics, GDPR, apps, COVID-19

References

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Author Biographies

Txetxu Ausín, Instituto de Filosofía. CSIC

Txetxu Ausín is a tenured scientist at the Institute for Philosophy of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). He is director of the Applied Ethics Group (GEA) as well as invited professor at several universities and researcher at the Globernance Institute of Democratic Governance. His research areas involve public ethics, bioethics, deontic logic, human rights and philosophy of disruptive technologies. He is member of the OECD Expert Group on research ethics and new forms of data for social and economic research. Editor and author of publications on these issues, he is currently a researcher in the INBOTS CSA network: Inclusive Robotics for a better Society, EXTEND: Bi-directional Hyper-connected Neural System and BIODAT: health data. He is also president of the Spanish Network of Philosophy, an independent member of the Public Ethics Commission of the Basque Government and patron of the Cluster Ethics Foundation of the Basque Country.

M.ª Belén Andreu Martínez, Universidad de Murcia

M.ª Belén Andreu Martínez is a professor of private law and research coordinator at the Center for Studies in Biolaw, Ethics and Health (CEBES) and director of the Biolaw, Ethics, Health and Technology Research Group at the University of Murcia. She is currently director of the research project Health data: Ethical and legal keys for the digital transformation of the health system (BioDat) of the Science and Technology Agency of the Region of Murcia and is involved in three other projects related to law, technology and health. She has three six-year periods of research and knowledge transfer recognized by the National Commission for the Assessment of Research Activity (CNEAI). She is also member of the Regional Council of Care Ethics of the Department of Health and Social Policy, Region of Murcia. She is coordinator of the dual Master of Bio-law and New Technologies between the University of Murcia and the University of Lille, France.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/enrahonar.1304

Published

2020-10-30

How to Cite

Ausín, T., & Andreu Martínez, M. B. (2020). Ethics and health data protection in pandemics: A reference to the case of applications for contact tracking. Enrahonar. An International Journal of Theoretical and Practical Reason, 65, 47–56. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/enrahonar.1304

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Copyright (c) 2020 Txetxu Ausín, M.ª Belén Andreu Martínez

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