The EU continues to lead on values-forward technology governance around data protection.

Today the European Commission announced a common approach to the use of mobile data and apps to support the coronavirus response and "exit strategies."

THREAD (1/x) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_626

First, the recommendation calls for a pan-European toolkit for the use of smartphone tracing apps that respect EU data protection standards. (2/x)

This toolkit will include specifications for medical and technical effectiveness, interoperability across the EU, governance mechanisms for public health authorities, and sharing data (including in an aggregated fashion) with relevant epidemiological bodies. (3/x)

Second, the EU seeks to model and predict the evolution of the virus through anonymised and aggregated mobile location data. (4/x)

In addition to the public health benefit of interoperability in contact tracing and epidemiological assessment across the content, a common democratic stance is vital to resisting authoritarian backsliding at a time that tests tradeoffs between privacy and public health. (5/x)

As mobile apps for public health surveillance pop up in the United States, being deliberate about privacy and civil liberties in their design is the best defense against an explosion of surveillance technologies that outlast the crisis. (6/6)