Minister of Communications, Telecommunications and Postal Services Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has assured South Africans that contact tracing in COVID-19 cases will not be used to spy on citizens.
Addressing the COVID-19 National Command Council media briefing on Thursday in Tshwane, the Minister said contact tracing will be used to attain information that can assist the government in minimizing the spread of the virus.
She says only people who test positive for the coronavirus will be traced.
The Department of Health will seek permission from the Electronic Communications Network Service (ECNS) to access their geolocation.
In turn, people who have been in contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 will be identified through the process of contact tracing.
Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams says they will not be spying on anyone but in a situation like this, our individual rights do not supersede the country’s rights.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International says technology can play a vital part during the pandemic to save lives, such as distributing public health messages and increase access to healthcare.
Spokesperson, Mienke Steytler, says an increase in state digital surveillance powers such as obtaining mobile phone location data threaten privacy, freedom of expression and freedom of association in ways that could violate rights and degrade trust in public authorities.
